Relay For Life at Stevenson University Offers Opportunity for Family Friendly Fun

The following is by Nick Farano, a cancer survivor.

I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in September of 2004, when I was 13.

I was just trying to play middle school football, but after a week on antibiotics, a chest X-ray and a CT scan, I was referred to an oncologist to figure out why my lymph nodes were swollen.

The following week, I was in the intensive-care unit starting my treatment. For two years, I went to the hospital four or five times a week, receiving chemotherapy treatments.

I missed my eighth-grade year of school in fear that my weak immune system would leave me prone to infection. I was able to go back to school in ninth grade, but still received treatments and missed some classes weekly.

My last chemotherapy treatment was September 28, 2006. I am currently in remission for the fifth year, but still attend a yearly check-up.

I attended my first Relay for Life at New York University in 2006 and fell in love. The energy, the roller coaster of emotions grabbed me like no other event.

In 2009, I co-founded a Relay For Life event in my senior year of high school in Baldwin, NY, which raised over $60,000 in its inaugural year, and I also helped bring Relay For Life to Stevenson University last year.

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Nick Farano, junior business communication major and student government president at , tells just one of the millions of stories of cancer victories around us. Today, Nick has teamed with a group of Stevenson students and faculty to chair his second Relay For Life at the university, and he wants YOU to get involved.

This year's relay, which will begin on April 13 at 6 p.m. and conclude April 14 at 6 a.m., is open to the community and will offer family friendly entertainment spanning from zumba to live performances.

Relay For Life, a program originated by and for the American Cancer Society, will serve as an opportunity for unity. "[It] brings us together as a campus and a community so we can celebrate, remember and fight back against cancer," Nick explained. "Find me a person who isn't affected by cancer."

Students and members of the community are currently forming teams of 10 to 15 friends, family members and coworkers to fundraise and prepare for the overnight event, which will be held at Stevenson's Owings Mills campus in the gymnasium.

On April 15, 2011, Stevenson hosted over 20 teams and 300 participants, who together raised over $23,000 at their first Relay For Life. This year Nick and the relay planning committee hope to more than double that figure, and have set a fundraising goal of $50,000.

Cancer survivors and those who devote their lives to supporting and caring for them are the heart of each relay, and both groups in the Stevenson and surrounding communities are invited to attend a free dinner and reception prior to the event, at 5 p.m. in the Howard S. Brown School of Business and Leadership.

Survivors and caregivers are also encouraged to join the relay at no charge, and can register for the dinner and relay by contacting Allison Rose, survivorship chair, at arose8197@stevenson.edu.

Members of the community who wish to participate in the relay individually or without joining a team are welcome to do so, and no relayer is required to stay the duration of the event.

Anyone interested in participating in Stevenson's Relay For Life can register at www.RelayForLife.org/StevensonUniversity. The registration fee is $10, or $50 to receive a commemorative T-shirt. Children under the age of 10 may be registered for free. For more information, contact Nick Farano at nfarano@stevenson.edu.