On Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m., the Relay Rally Committee at Longwood University decided to raise the heat again at the second Relay Rally of the semester in the Lankford Student Union Ballroom. The event was organized to be a "bank night," as reported in The Rotunda on Feb. 1, "where participants and teams are able to deposit money that has been raised thus far."
Additionally, the event was organized to draw in further participants and to help facilitate ideas to better prepare students to fundraise before the actual Relay for Life event on April 20.
Anne Catron, Spirit Chair of the Relay for Life Committee, said, "The event is just to get people excited to want to come to Relay, want other people to bring their friends, have them get excited about Relay … want to raise more money and understand that what we're doing impacts so many different people."
Staff partner of the American Cancer Society Toni Herrmann attended the event and said, "We have a great opportunity for you all to supplement our fundraising."
Matt Froestad, a member of the Relay for Life Committee, said, "Our main focus is fundraising this week ... We're going to be doing fundraising workshops later in the night."
An icebreaker called "Psychic Handshake" was organized to break the guests of the events into teams. Each student was given a raffle ticket with a number written on the backside of each. The game was to silently go up to each person in the room and shake his or her hand the amount of times written on the raffle ticket. Those with the same amount of handshakes were unified into one team.
Once split up into teams, each group of students chose random everyday objects that included giant sunglasses, a wine glass or a Luigi figurine. The objects chosen were chosen to give students the ability to brainstorm ideas for fundraiser activities.
Other fundraising ideas were also presented to students on set up tables, including book sales, selling flowers donated by local florists or setting up coin cans in businesses.
Catron told students, "Fundraisers are worth it."
The Longwood teams and students who had raised the highest amount of donations were recognized at the Relay Rally, including Team Illumination, Cormier Honors College, Theta Chi, AnnMarie Patten, Ryan Pereira and Lindsay Graybill.
On the night of the event, over 470 participants were signed up with over 50 teams and over $20,000 had been raised. On the night of the first Relay Rally, there were 104 participants, 22 teams and $4,141 raised, a big difference made already by Longwood students.
Ryan Pereira, captain of the Theta Chi Relay for Life team, rose over $600 before Jan. 31 and has been one of the top three contributors for Longwood's Relay for Life. He said, "My goal is to try to get more people involved. I was proud of myself … however much I raised, but I'm trying to get more people involved, too … "
Pereira said he didn't have any secrets to fundraising for Relay for Life and mentioned that it was with the help of generous family and friends that he has been able to contribute so much.
Pereira suggested to students, "Just find some team now as soon as you can. Don't wait till the last minute. The sooner you get started, the sooner you can raise money, and the more money you can raise potentially."
"I wanted to raise money for it, raise money for such a good cause," said Catron. "Some people don't realize that it doesn't take that much to fundraise. If you asked 20 people for just $5, that's $100 right there ... It really does add up ... It makes such a big impact in the end."
At the night of the Relay Rally event, students were able to sign up for Relay for Life through set-up laptops and Relay for Life Committee members present to help students in any way possible. Free miscellaneous items, such as cups and notebooks, were available for students as well.
Longwood students are able to receive text message notifications for Relay for Life by texting 5929 to the phone number 2723.
"We're not going to bombard you with text messages," assured Herrmann. Hermann said text messaging is simply an efficient way to notify people about Relay Rallies and fundraisers.
Students who sign up for Relay for Life before March 12 are able to receive a free Relay for Life T-shirt with those team names on the back that raised at least $1,000.
Herrmann noted that participants of Relay for Life are able to have the opportunity to win a 2012 Volkswagon Passat and a 20120 Volkswagon Jeep through $5 raffle tickets. Participants are able to buy the raffle tickets in bulks of 25. "Whatever you sell, you will be able to count that money towards your individual fundraising efforts," said Herrmann, adding, "Give your friends and family an opportunity to win a car."
One additional incentive given to students is the opportunity to win a free iPad 3, designated solely for the person who fundraises the most by Relay for Life. Other gift incentives include a free Relay for Life Baseball hat given to each Relay team captain with the $10 commitment fee, or a free Sip 'N Go Tumbler given to each team that collectively sends out 212 emails through the Relay website on "My Relay Center."
Catron said, "We're a small school. You know, we're up against Virginia Tech, UVA, ODU, JMU. We're up against big schools, but we're doing big things here at Longwood, too."
To obtain further information on Relay for Life or to sign up, go to www.relayforlife.org/longwood or go to the Longwood Relay for Life Facebook page. If in need of help, the Relay for Life Committee at Longwood University is available to assist students.
