The student-organized Hope College chapter of Colleges Against Cancer will sponsor its 15th annual Relay For Life event from 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10, until 7 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Dow Center.
The Relay For Life is part of a national fund-raising initiative for the American Cancer Society. The non-competitive event invites members of the Hope College community to form teams and then walk the Dow Center’s track overnight to raise funds for research, education, advocacy and service in the fight against cancer.
The relay will begin with an opening ceremony at 7 p.m., with cancer survivors and caregivers invited to participate in laps at 7:30 p.m. The event will also include a 10 p.m. luminaria ceremony honoring those who have lost their lives to cancer and those who are still battling cancer, a 1 a.m. ceremony emphasizing fighting back against cancer, and a 6:30 a.m. closing ceremony.
Hundreds of students participate in the college’s Relay For Life annually, with more than 520 signed up this year. The 27 teams that have registered include a variety of student organizations, as well as groups representing academic programs, residence halls, athletics and others who have banded together specifically on behalf of the event.
In 2016, the American Cancer Society Relay For Life Nationwide Awards and Recognition Program honored Hope’s 2015 Relay For Life with two awards. The college’s program received a Nationwide Division Per Capita Award, and Hope’s Dianne Portfleet Alcor Chapter of the Mortar Board national honor society won the Nationwide Team of Excellence Award. Hope and the chapter received the same awards in 2015 for 2014, with the 2014 Hope Relay For Life also receiving the 2015 Lakeshore Division Heart of Relay Award for Survivor Engagement.
The Dow Center is located at 168 E. 13th St., on 13th Street at Columbia Avenue.