You’ll have to excuse the rush of this op-ed; the topic I had originally wanted to speak on won’t be made public knowledge for at least two weeks now and, to avoid spreading any mis-information, I have had to revise my topic.
In Dickinsonian Editor-in-Chief tradition I have, like my predecessors, included my thoughts on this year’s Relay for Life fundraiser.
On October 15, 2008 The Dickinsonian reported that, for the first time since the global fundraising movement began in 1985, the college would be hosting its own chapter of Relay for Life.
In the six months between the announcement and the event itself, the college helped organize and mobilize the entire campus to take part in the 24-hour walk. And their work showed: After the event in April, the Relay for Life team raised $42,000, nearly $12,000 over the amount they projected to raise. Over 25 teams and 250 participants signed up to run.
In the four years between now and then, the scale of Dickinson’s Relay has only changed.
Attendance for the fundraiser has always been on the rise. By the Second Annual Relay for Life the number of participants had more than doubled, with over 50 teams and 750 participants. The numbers were similar for the year after that, with over 56 teams and 854 participants.
Despite the campus’ yearly increase in involvement, however, the money raised has plateaued.
After the first year, Relay for Life raised $57,000 dollars. They hit $63,000 the next year, an all time high for the organization. But, despite the highest turnout of all four years in 2012, the group could only scrape up $51,000, lower than the total of the last two years.
In these sorts of situations, where the injury is slight and the culprit is obscured, it’s easy to toss around blame. But really, there is no blame to assign for this. I have and will continue to parrot the same beliefs that the previous Editors-in-Chiefs have held: The committee that is in charge of organizing the relay are superb at their job and is, as John Jones ’11 once put it, “possibly the most impressive joint effort put forth by the school.”
Blame can’t be placed on one person or group, but as an institute as a whole. Relay for Life relies on donations of money, small or large, both by participants and the participant’s supporters. While we have plenty of students and faculty willing to walk each year, the money given to them by their supporters fluctuates.
In this week’s report on page one, the Relay for Life committee is looking to raise over $60,000 dollars for the fight against cancer. While many of you are already considering donating money, I ask that you dig a little deeper and put an extra $5 or $10 dollars in the pot.
Even those little steps can help push our total money earned upwards. And every cent earned goes towards a good cause.
