Issue date: 4/17/09 Section: News

Cancer survivors walk the first lap of last year's Relay For Life in Lantz Fieldhouse. This year's event will take place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Friday. (File photo/The Daily Eastern News)

For the past three weeks, Ryan Kerch, vice president for student affairs, has been leading the Student Government's Relay for Life team.

Seven members from the Student Senate have joined the team and plan to attend the event at 6 p.m. Friday at the Lantz Field House.

The Relay for Life fundraiser is one of the main events hosted by the American Cancer Society throughout the year.

Teams are asked to raise money to donate to cancer research. The teams then camp out and have a relay walk or run for an entire night. At least one member from each team is asked to be on the track throughout the 12-hour event.

Maria Acesario, vice president of Colleges Against Cancer at Eastern, said 64 teams are currently signed up, and the college expects more than $40,000 in donations raised.

Student Government members have attempted to raise money several ways.

Senate member Mike Hilty put a jar in the Student Activities Center in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union to raise money for the event, while Tiffany Turner, vice president for business affairs, has asked for donations from her family at home.

Since senate member Chris Kromphardt has recently joined the team, he was not able to go home, but he has found other means of raising money.

"I have been asking professors," Kromphardt said. "Since I recently joined the team, I didn't have the chance to go home and ask family, and all of my friends are college students, who have just as much money as me. I have just been finding faculty (phone) numbers and asking for donations."

Kerch is not sure how much money the Student Government will raise in total because the money is not due until Friday before the event, but he has set a goal for every team member to raise $200.

Marissa Ward, president of Colleges Against Cancer at Eastern, said this is the sixth year Relay for Life has been on campus.

"I think it's really nice for groups, especially Student Government, to be involved with this because they are some of the leadership on campus, and it sets a good example for other RSO's that want to get involved," Ward said.

Other members of the Student Government team include Jarrod Scherle, Jason Sandidge, and Tommy Neirman.


Kayleigh Zyskowski can be reached at 581-7942 or at kzyskowski@eiu.edu.

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