Assembly Launches 2013 Relay For Life
This spring's Relay For Life campaign is underway. A kick-off assembly for Huntington High School students was held last week in the school auditorium. Organizers hope to surpass last year's impressive total of $134,000 that was raised for the American Cancer Society during the overnight event.
Seniors Gabe Goldman, Molly Prep and Nikki Smoot are coordinating this year's Relay For Life, with guidance and assistance from Huntington High School's National Honor Society faculty advisor Joseph Cohen. Last week's assembly was attended by more than 1,200 students, teachers and support staff members.
"The kick-off went very well," said Ms. Smoot, who was one of the speakers. "We informed everyone about the awards we won last year and how amazing we did as a rookie high school event. Then we talked about where the money goes and how our fundraising is used by the ACS." A multi-media presentation, including upbeat music and colorful photos from last year's inaugural event, was utilized to get the crowd excited about this spring's event.
The 2013 Relay For Life is set for Friday, May 17 at Huntington High School. It will conclude at daybreak on Saturday, May 18. During last week's kick-off assembly, organizers discussed their goals for this year's initiative and how they plan to "Dream Big, Hope Big and Relay Big!"
Danielle Shultz, who chaired the kick-off committee, was one of the speakers at the assembly. She detailed the Relay For Life's mission and explained how the American Cancer Society uses the monies raised.
"It was a fun assembly but it was very different for me because not only was I on stage the whole time and not in the audience, [but] it was my first time speaking in front of a crowd that large," Ms. Schultz said. "I was very nervous, but I felt good afterword."
Mr. Goldman spoke about the goals for this year's event and presented a video of students expressing their excitement to participate this May. A Huntington junior delivered an emotional and inspiring speech about his battle with cancer. "It was heartbreaking to hear, but it encouraged the students to join the fight against cancer," Ms. Schultz said.
Ms. Prep spoke about living a healthy, cancer-free life. Stephanie Rafuse informed the crowd about efforts underway to promote this year's event, including the use of social media. She also explained some of the new fundraising ideas that have been developed. The assembly wrapped up with an empowering audience chant that left everyone feeling energized about the Relay For Life.
The organizing committee is active on many fronts. Last week it sold hundreds of Relay For Life balloon-grams at the high school for $1 each. Purchasers could write a note and have it delivered to a friend along with a balloon at the end of the school day on Wednesday.
Another fundraising activity associated with this year's event is the sale of Huntington High School Relay For Life long sleeve t-shirts and quarter-zip sweatshirts. The clothing sale got underway this week. An order form has been posted on the Huntington School District's website at www.hufsd.edu. All orders are due by February 22. According to organizers, 100 percent of any monies realized from all fundraisers will go directly to Huntington's Relay For Life.
The Huntington High School Key Club has announced it will be donating all proceeds from its annual K-Factor talent show to this year's Relay For Life, "so we encouraged everyone at the assembly to go," Ms. Smoot said.
Huntington High School's Relay For Life organizing committee has established a presence on Twitter (HHSRELAY4LIFE), Facebook (HHSRELAYFORLIFE2013) and Instagram (HHSRELAY) to provide students and community members with current news and information about this year's event.
"We are encouraging everyone to organize their teams and go to the Relay For Life website (www.relayforlife.org/huntingtonhighschoolNY) to register as soon as possible so they can begin fundraising," Ms. Smoot said.
Any local business interested in sponsoring this year's Relay For Life at Huntington High School through a donation of either goods or services is encouraged to the RFL organization committee at hhsrelay@gmail.com.