Relay for Life gives away iPad to help fundraise
(Photo illustration by Alexander Domingo -- The Beacon)
By Amanda Blas, Staff Writer -- blas13@up.edu
UP students coordinating this year's Relay for Life are having problems reaching their fundraising goal of $55,000 for the American Cancer Society. They are scrambling to increase their fundraising efforts to reach their goal by the end of the event this upcoming weekend.
The Relay for Life, which is going on its seventh year at UP, is an overnight walkathon held in the academic quad. It is the American Cancer Society's number one fundraiser, helping fundraise for research grants to help find cures for cancer as well as for services helping those who suffer from cancer. The event will start at noon on Saturday, April 16, and will go on until 8 a.m. the following day.
According to junior Chris Vennes, co-chair of UP's Relay for Life, the fundraising goal was set over the summer based on last year's goal and how much money the fundraiser brought in.
But, as of Wednesday, UP was still far off from its goal, with fundraising efforts barely passing the halfway mark.
"We've raised roughly about $26,000 so far," Hilary Elgin, UP's staff partner from the American Cancer Society, said.
According to junior Kelsey Siekkinen, co-chair of UP's Relay for Life, the current fundraising problems can be attributed to a shift in this year's focus from fundraising to student participation in the event.
"We focused on getting more people in on the event but not as much fundraising happened," Siekkinen said. "More people are involved, but now we need to get more people inspired to fundraise."
To encourage fundraising, UP's Relay for Life has come up with an incentive for participants' fundraising: an iPad giveaway.
"It's worked to get people interested," Siekkinen said. "Big incentives, such as an iPad, help motivate people to fundraise."
According to Elgin, the iPad will be given away through a raffle that will take place on the final day of Relay for Life. To get tickets for the raffle, students must raise money for the Relay for Life. Every $150 that is raised is rewarded with one raffle ticket.
"We expect to reach our fundraising goal with this iPad challenge," Elgin said. "Most of the people I've talked to seem pretty intrigued and excited about the cool incentive, especially because it's only for UP. The atmosphere of it all is creating a positive experience. According to Siekkinen, the giveaway has been a success so far, with their fundraising increasing a couple thousand dollars since it started.
"I'd say there are about 173 raffle tickets that will be given out on the day of relay for the iPad challenge as of now," Elgin said.
In addition to the money raised from the iPad giveaway, the chairs of the Relay for Life event expect to see an increase in fundraising in the upcoming week.
"You definitely see a big increase with fundraising the week before Relay," Vennes said. "We are college students, and most people wait until the last minute."
Siekkinen also noted the actual Relay for Life event plays a big role in fundraising.
"A lot of money that we bring in is from the event itself," Siekkinen said. "We make a lot of money the day of."
Despite problems with fundraising for Relay for Life, Vennes is confident in UP's ability to reach its goal.
"We're a little lower right now in terms of fundraising than a year before, but it's coming together," Vennes said. "I feel we'll hit our goal."
To donate, go to www.relayforlife.org/upor
To be a team captain or help with the Relay for Life committee next year, email uprelay@gmail.com
Everyone is invited to the Luminaria Ceremony, Saturday night, April 16, at 10 p.m. to remember those lost to cancer.
