Right after his mother had been diagnosed with cancer, social science senior Steve Wolbert accidentally walked into a Relay for Life event.
Five years later, he is helping prepare MSU's fifth Relay for Life event for the American Cancer Society, which will be held at Munn Ice Arena on Saturday and Sunday.
For Wolbert, finding out about his mother was a huge blow, particularly because his uncle had recently died from cancer.
"It was like, 'Wow, we have to go through this again,'" Wolbert said. "It's a sick feeling. At first you don't know what to do - you try to vent your anger in so many places."
The Relay for Life is a 24-hour event held to honor those who have battled cancer and to raise money for the society, said event chairwoman and political science senior Dana Dzwonkowski. The goal is to improve on last year's outcome, which had between 700 and 900 participants and raised $66,000, Dzwonkowski said.
The money raised is making a big difference both locally and globally, said Kate Follett, community development director of the American Cancer Society.
Local organizations that help people living with cancer and cancer research will be funded by events like the relay, she said.
"It shows (students) understand what they do today will have an impact on the future," Follett said. "It shows young people understand more than people give them credit for."
The relay will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with a number of activities that will be available every hour including open ice skating, a Texas Hold 'Em tournament and a lip sync and celebrity look-alike contest. Different teams will be selling food and crafts to raise money during the night.
To cap off the event, there will be a lap around the ice for survivors at 7 p.m. and a luminary ceremony at 9 p.m. Luminary bags with the names of people who have battled cancer will be lit while those people are honored in the ceremony, Dzwonkowski said.
With a one in three chance of being diagnosed with the disease, cancer affects everyone and the luminary part of the night is particularly inspiring and helpful for those people, she said.
Helping out at events such as the relay are very important for people who have been affected by cancer because they can honor the ones they love, Wolbert said.
His mother is proof that strides are being made in the battle against cancer.
"When it first came, they said she had six months," Wolbert said. "Almost five years later, she's still around."
