2011 Year-End ReportsBest Practices Relay For Life

These best practices have been collected from the 2011 Year-End Reports submitted by Colleges Against Cancer Chapters from across the nation. Use these ideas to spark your thoughts and imagination, but remember to change and adapt them to fit your campus culture! This guide is certainly not exhaustive, and we encourage you to tell us about the events and activities hosted by your chapter, so we can spread those ideas, too. Don’t forget to take pictures and videos of your programs and share them with us, so we can show them to the rest of the Colleges Against Cancer and Collegiate Relay For Life communities!

Please remember that some of the greatest ideas encompass more than one of the strategic directions of Advocacy, Cancer Education, Relay For Life, and Survivor & Caregiver Engagement. Each of the four guides focuses on a particular direction, but some practices overlap. We encourage you to check each of the guides for more suggestions! To help you locate the ideas, each guide has been divided into sections, but, again, we encourage you to look through each section to get the most from these documents.

If you have questions or would like more information, please e-mail us at CAC@cancer.org.

Thank you for all that you do in the fight against cancer.

With hope,

The National Collegiate Advisory Team

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Table of Contents

The best practices for Relay For Life have been divided into three categories:

Get the People……………………………………………………………....................................................3Kick-Offs…………………………………………………………4Rallies…………………………………………………………….7Team Captain Meetings / Team Meetings………8

Get the Money ………………………………………………………………………….....................................9Get the Fun………………………………………………………………………………….................................17

Themes………………………………………………………..17Paint the Campus Purple……………………………..19Marketing & Relay For Life Awareness…………23Pre-Relay Events & Activities……………………….24At Relay……………………………………………………….25Fight Back…………………………………………………….29Post-Relay Events & Activities………………………35 Other……………………………………………………………35

NOTE: These best practices have been collected directly from the 2011 Year-End Reports submitted by Colleges Against Cancer Chapters. The text from those reports has been included in this guide. Few changes have been made. Questions about these practices should be directed to the National Collegiate Advisory Team at CAC@cancer.org. The team will make every attempt to find the answers you need!

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Get The People

SCHOOL: Cornell CollegeDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Storm the Dining Hall: In previous years, we have done Storm the Dorm in order to get a last push for students to register for Relay. This year, we decided to go through Sodexo (our cafeteria) instead. CAC members and chairs walked around during the lunch hours to tell people about Relay and how to sign up and to direct them to the laptops we had stationed outside for people to register.

SCHOOL: Cornell CollegeDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: High School Recruiting: We wanted to make a more conscious effort to include high school students in the area. We had a table during their lunch hours. We brought ACS giveaways and t-shirts from last year’s Relay. We gave away handouts with information about Relay along with the parent forms they needed to return.

SCHOOL: Lebanon Valley CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Team Recruitment: For team recruitment, we enlisted the help of our Relay committee to help recruit their friends and classmates. We gave each committee member a series of index cards with the names of organizations and clubs on campus. Their job was to contact the team and encourage them to sign up for Relay. Their duties did not stop there, as they were to stay in contact with that team throughout the year and serve as a “mentor” for that team. They would send their team important e-mails about Relay-related events on campus, give them fundraising ideas, and answer any questions they had.

SCHOOL: Muhlenberg CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Faculty Recruitment: We had each CAC member take a Relay incentive or informational gift to one of their favorite professors or staff members to ask them to support or participate in Relay For Life.

SCHOOL: Philadelphia UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Activity Fair: The fair is to allow students to see the new organizations and get information. New students received information from their new student bags earlier that week, when they first moved in. Cans of the energy drink Rockstar were handed out that said, “Be a

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Rockstar. Join Relay For Life… It’s the thing to do at Phila U.” This also provided a time to indulge in the powers of an interest sign-up sheet. Students provided their names and e-mails which allowed the committee to directly contact students to get involved in Relay For Life.

SCHOOL: Villanova UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Faculty Recruitment: We sent personal holiday cards to all of our professors, asking them for a donation or to start a team and also invited them to join as a survivor or caregiver.

Kick-Offs

SCHOOL: Albany College of Pharmacy and Health SciencesDIVISION: EasternBEST PRACTICE: The Executive Board threw a Relay For Life Kick-Off to build up excitement for Relay For Life. In order to advertise, we did a dorm storm where we posted flyers on every door in the dorms, hung flyers around campus, created a Facebook event, and put up table tents in the cafeteria. Each participant was given a punch card to guide them through the stations and served as a way for us to take attendance. Teams signed up for Relay, received Team Captain and fundraising information, shopped at the Relay store, and ordered RFL apparel and gear. They also learned about Survivorship and Advocacy at Relay. We also promoted joining ACS CAN. In addition, there was information explaining the history of Relay. A free lunch was provided after punch cards were turned in. Over 200 students and faculty attended. We had great purple decorations and an upbeat playlist.

SCHOOL: Binghamton University, State University of New York (SUNY)DIVISION: EasternBEST PRACTICE: This year, we decided to host a more interactive Kick-Off and chose to host a Battle of the Bands. Once attendees registered for Relay, they could vote for their favorite band. Six bands participated, and the winner was allowed to choose their time to play at Relay For Life. We also provided food, sold Luminarias, took “Why I Relay” photos, and provided information about the services of ACS and ACS CAN.

SCHOOL: Canisius CollegeDIVISION: EasternBEST PRACTICE: Ugly Sweater Christmas Party: At the end of the first semester, an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party was organized on campus as the mini Kick-Off event.

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SCHOOL: Cornell CollegeDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Our Kick-Off had a birthday party theme to support the American Cancer Society’s “More Birthdays” campaign. We had piñatas, giant Twister, games, cake, streamers, balloons, etc. to create a birthday party atmosphere. We provided laptops in order for students, staff, and faculty to sign up on the spot. We used in-kind donations in a raffle. Every person that registered during Kick-Off was allowed to enter their name in the drawing to win one of over twenty prizes. We also gave out information regarding the duties of a Team Captain, fundraising, etc.

SCHOOL: Dickinson CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We made purple pancakes at both of our Kick-Offs.

SCHOOL: Gettysburg CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: The Spring Kick-Off used various stations to encourage attendees to learn more about Relay For Life and take action. Stations included Registration, Luminaria, Fight Back, Survivorship, Fundraising, and more. A brief intro was given and two “More Birthdays” celebrity videos were shown, but the rest of the event was an open house. We offered free pizza to students who visited all stations while they were there. We did this to ensure that they received all the necessary information. Once their card was full, they were eligible for pizza. Also, for every action taken at each station, they received a bonus sticker that qualified them for a chance at a movie prize basket in line with the event’s theme (included popcorn, candy, DVDs, & theater gift card). Examples of actions they could take included registering for the event, completing a Fight Back pledge card, purchasing a Luminaria, and more. The Virtual Survivor program was also strongly promoted— students who visited the table were encouraged to complete a die-cut card in honor of someone they fought back for and then to register that person as a Virtual Survivor.

SCHOOL: Lebanon Valley CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We held a Purple Light Special for our campus during the week leading up to and after our Relay Kick-Off. This special cut the registration fee to $5 for participants who signed up during that time.

SCHOOL: Lehigh UniversityDIVISION: East Central

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BEST PRACTICE: We held a Fall Relay For Life Kick-Off with food and birthday card making for cancer survivors. We also spoke with cancer survivors involved in our Relay. We also held a Spring Relay For Life Kick-Off which had a huge turnout to support a Lehigh student who told his story about his battle with cancer. At this Kick-Off, we had a mini-Luminaria Ceremony to display why we Relay.

SCHOOL: Lock Haven UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We held a Kick-Off party where we invited all the former Team Captains as well as the rest of the campus and staff to sign up their teams at a low price as well as learn more about this year’s event. This year’s event, “Carnival For a Cure” enabled us to play up the theme and make the Kick-Off a small taste of what the event would be. We had nearly half of our teams sign up this night which was a great way to kick off our event.

SCHOOL: Muhlenberg CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: At the Kick-Off, our Relay Co-Chairs-in-Training had created a slideshow of pictures from past events to demonstrate how fun Relay For Life is. They also went around campus asking a variety of students to sing “Happy Birthday” and created a video to honor our survivors.

SCHOOL: Philadelphia UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We reserved our Performance Space to have tables of information for students and faculty. We had laptops ready for registration online, as well as paper forms and fundraising envelopes. The University had the opportunity to share why they Relay and write the names of loved ones on a banner. People could also stop by and make cards for residents of the Hope Lodge and Why I Relay Pins. Every person that signed up a team that day received a Relay gift. The atmosphere was spirited, with upbeat music and the energy of the Spirit Committee. Committee members were stationed in high traffic areas, asking people about Relay For Life and handing out factual information.

SCHOOL: Slippery Rock UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Relay was promoted year-round, specifically through two Kick-Off events held in SRU’s only evening dining hall during dinner hours. CAC partnered with AVI, the company that runs the dining hall, and they made a lot of purple food, allowed us to decorate everywhere, provide every person who came in with information about Relay, have a DJ to

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make announcements about Relay and signing up. We took up two long tables on either side of the dining hall as you walked in, so every person had to walk in between our registration, game, and info tables. This was key in spreading the word about Relay, and both Kick-Off events were very successful. To advertise the Kick-Off events, the committee did a dorm storm the night before and put little flyers on every single door in all dorms with funny sayings like “Be there or be square” and “Don’t be that guy” geared to college students with the Kick-Off information. This was the first year for the dorm storm and it was very successful.

SCHOOL: University of IowaDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: For our Kick-Off, we held an 80’s Movie Marathon Kick-Off Event to get people excited for Relay and provide any information that participants needed.

SCHOOL: University of Southern CaliforniaDIVISION: CaliforniaBEST PRACTICE: We hosted two Kick-Offs: one for new teams and one for returning teams . The Kick-Offs had a birthday party theme and we decorated with balloons and streamers everywhere and had birthday cake and other goodies. The new team Kick-Off included an information session in which we could let new Team Captains know what Relay was all about and try to push the ideas of having a campsite, decorations, and on-site fundraisers as well as inform them about pre-event fundraising and our main expectations. We included trivia and prizes to keep it fun. The returning team Kick-Off was more of an open house in which we had computers set up with music playing and returning Team Captains could come anytime within the window and sign up their teams and participate in our birthday party.

Rallies

SCHOOL: Clarion UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We held a rally at the end of February in the multi-purpose room of our school. There were live bands that played, purple baked goods, and, as an incentive, we had a tie-dyeing station set up where people who came could tie-dye old Relay t-shirts from the last few years. In between the bands, we had a student survivor share her story and also played Cancer Ed Jeopardy.

SCHOOL: Philadelphia UniversityDIVISION: East Central

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BEST PRACTICE: We invited students to a fun, field day type of event with games including tug-of-war, balloon stomp, etc. Students also did a quiz run with facts about Relay (Relay Rugby): if they knew the answer, they had to be the first one to run to a committee member. They then received a prize. The team with the most points won t-shirts from the University. Outside the Rally, we had information about how to sign up for Relay.

SCHOOL: York CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: During the Valentine’s season, we decided to host a mini Luminaria Ceremony. Students, faculty, and staff were able to purchase a Luminaria bag for $10 or a heart for $1 outside the dining hall. The idea was to have a collage of colored hearts to display on campus. In addition to this successful display, we hosted a small, intimate ceremony outside by the fountain in the center of campus.

Team Captain Meetings / Team Meetings

SCHOOL: University of Southern CaliforniaDIVISION: CaliforniaBEST PRACTICE: We used our Team Captain meetings to showcase different components and expectations of Relay. For one of our Team Captain meetings, we set up a campsite in the front of the room as an example for all captains (we even pitched a tent). Our Relay asks every team to pick a cancer and to decorate their campsite, coordinate an on-site fundraiser, and incorporate a mission-related activity around this cancer and awareness. So, we chose skin cancer with a beach theme because spring break was fast-approaching. We had the beach theme incorporated in the decor as well as an on-site fundraiser selling sunglasses and sunscreen massages. We also included a trivia game about sun safety and skin cancer education.

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Get The Money

SCHOOL: Binghamton University, State University of New York (SUNY)DIVISION: EasternBEST PRACTICE: Highlights for a Cure: We teamed up with the Hair Color Café, a local hair salon, to fundraise for our Relay with Highlights for a Cure. We hosted a table in our Student Union and the hairstylists from the salon gave students purple highlights. We raised $800, and students rocked their Relay spirit! This activity was so popular that we brought the ladies from the salon back to campus!

SCHOOL: Bowling Green State UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Wrapping Gifts: “That’s a Wrap for Cancer” was a holiday fundraiser in which CAC members offered to wrap gifts bought in the Union bookstore for donations to the American Cancer Society.

SCHOOL: Creighton UniversityDIVISION: High PlainsBEST PRACTICE: Decorated Bras and Boxers: One of the sororities on campus sold decorated bras and boxers for cancer awareness. It was a fun fundraiser that showed everyone at Relay that breast cancer and prostate cancer can affect all of us.

SCHOOL: Dakota State UniversityDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Dash for Cash in the Dorms: In our Dash for Cash fundraiser, members went around to each residence hall and knocked on each door asking the students for any spare change they had to donate towards our fundraising goal. We were able to fundraise $211.41 with the help of the students. On another weeknight, we did another Dash for Cash in the dorms. We went through the residence halls, going door to door, asking for donations. In total, we raised $386.81.

SCHOOL: DeSales UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Shave to Save Fundraiser: In November, we held our Shave to Save as a Relay fundraiser. Committee members recruited participants who would be willing to auction off their hair in honor of those who have lost theirs to cancer and chemo. At the event, we put pictures of those who signed up to have their hair shaved in a slideshow. People were able to bid on the chance to shave their friends’ hair: the highest bidder got the opportunity to do so. We had

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two girls who were willing to donate their hair. One girl raised almost $500, and the other would not shave her head for less than $1000. We met that goal and all the proceeds went to Relay. We also had laptops set up at this event and encouraged people to sign up for Relay. Shave OR Save: One member raised $60 when a friend wanted to “save” his hair, instead of seeing him go bald. We gave away ski caps to all participants.

SCHOOL: James Madison UniversityDIVISION: South AtlanticBEST PRACTICE: Concessions and Clean-Up at Games: We worked concessions at football and basketball events to raise money for Relay. We also cleaned up after a football game to fundraise for Relay For Life.

SCHOOL: James Madison UniversityDIVISION: South AtlanticBEST PRACTICE: Date Auction: The Colleges Against Cancer Executive Board helped the Relay For Life Executive Board put on a date auction where 18 men were ‘sold.’ It raised over $1,000 for Relay.

SCHOOL: Lebanon Valley CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Balloon Launch: For our Second Annual Balloon Launch, students, faculty, staff and community members could purchase a purple biodegradable balloon that they could write on for $1. We sold them for the 3 weeks leading up to the launch. (All of the proceeds went towards Relay.) We had a DJ in the quad for a few hours as people gathered to prepare to launch their balloons at a specified date/time. It was very successful: we sold at least 150 balloons leading up to the event and sold even more at the event. This event took a big leap from last year.

SCHOOL: Lebanon Valley CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Battle of the Bands: Our committee hosted “Battle Against Cancer” in which campus bands had the opportunity to raise money for their teams. The top three bands that raised the most got to play for an hour at Relay. We advertised by using tables at meals and talking to the bands on campus.

SCHOOL: Lycoming CollegeDIVISION: East Central

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BEST PRACTICE: Christmas Tree of Hope: We set up a Christmas Tree of HOPE to create awareness for the different cancers through all colored lights and hope decorations. We sold ornaments for $1. The campus could purchase them and write in honor or memory of cancer patients. We ended up raising $50 towards Relay For Life.

SCHOOL: Miami UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Fashion Show: We hosted a “Miami’s Secret” fashion show and accompanying silent auction to raise money for our Relay For Life. At the intermission, we provided information about skin cancer prevention.

SCHOOL: Pennsylvania State UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Late Night Downtown Food Sale: During the first weekend back in the spring semester, Penn State Relay For Life volunteers set up three tent locations throughout downtown State College selling hot dogs and meatball hoagies. The event catered to all of the college students who were downtown late on a Friday night and made over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society.

SCHOOL: Philadelphia UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Donated Dinner: One of our committee members’ families donated an entire dinner from their diner in NJ. During the dinner, we played a PowerPoint of family and friends of the University who have or have had cancer. We also took a moment during the dinner to inform our dinner guests of the number of people who died during the three-hour dinner using data of how many people die in a given time frame as well as a large ash tray and plastic chips as a visual aid. The dinner not only raised $1,000, but it also raised awareness about the dangers of tobacco on campus. For $5, a person could attend the event, have dinner, and learn a lot about the dangers of tobacco. We decorated the venue with everything purple. During the event, we had the “lunchbox” on display, “Why Tax Free?” cards available, as well as information about quitting. There was also a successful raffle with donated prizes. All of this money went towards fundraising for Relay For Life.

SCHOOL: Sam Houston State UniversityDIVISION: High Plains BEST PRACTICE: Relay For Life Teams Garage Sale: We hosted a garage sale promoting team fundraisers on campus of SHSU.

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SCHOOL: Slippery Rock UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Dorm Storm Penny Wars: Relay was publicized through first-year dorm-wide penny wars that were also a success. The winning dorm got a pizza party and was announced at Relay. More than $300 was raised for Relay.

SCHOOL: Southern Illinois University – EdwardsvilleDIVISION: IllinoisBEST PRACTICE: Ink Cartridge Collection: CAC helped man a table at SIUE’s annual spring Fit Fest to help bring awareness about the upcoming event as well as the ACS partnership for healthy living. The CAC team and committee team teamed up to collect ink cartridges throughout campus to raise money for Relay.

SCHOOL: University of CincinnatiDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: 5-in-5 Campaign: The goal of our 5-in-5 campaign was twofold: To raise $5,000 in 5 days for our Relay For Life event and to increase awareness/marketing for our Relay For Life event to get more people signed up and participating. We pushed online fundraising challenges, and tried to increase faculty support by sending out Relay For Life packets to each department on campus. We had even more Cancer Education efforts in our student union building and fun events each day of the week. Overall, a lot of teams signed up that week, and we were able to raise well over $10,000 in just 5 days!

SCHOOL: University of Northern IowaDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Committee Help at Proceeds Nights: At our Coldstone fundraiser, we had several of our committee members stationed by an informational poster describing all of the areas of CAC and our Relay For Life of UNI. We also had members of our committee scooping the ice cream and wearing CAC or Relay For Life t-shirts. We had a survivor, a team member and a Team Captain sign up at this event as well.

SCHOOL: University of Northern IowaDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Rock For a Cure: The event, Rock For a Cure, was planned by one of our Relay For Life teams in which bands came and performed and all of the proceeds from the night were donated to the American Cancer Society. T-shirts were also sold to promote students’ attendance to the Relay For Life of UNI.

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SCHOOL: University of PittsburghDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Balls and Wieners Event: Our Balls and Wieners Event focused on testicular cancer awareness, but the main goal was to raise money for the upcoming Relay. At the event, members of our organization and Team Captains of the Relay teams worked together to serve meatball subs and hot dogs to the hungry students. Contacting local businesses to donate these foods is a long process, especially when our school has many restrictions on preparing food to sell. This past year, we got meatballs and sauce from Subway and hot dogs from Smith’s. The campus catering company contributed all of the buns and condiments for the event as well. We also decided to provide “Balls & Wieners” t-shirts for sale to the public for $10. They were a huge success and added to the fun of the event. This year, we raised over $950!

SCHOOL: University of ScrantonDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Are You Smarter than a Freshman? Show: We hosted “Are You Smarter Than a Freshman?,” our version of the TV show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?. We had six freshmen students as the panel and one Jesuit, one professor, and one senior as the contestants. We tested them on subjects freshmen would be familiar with and the contestants would have forgotten such as Freshman Philosophy, Theology, Public Speaking, and Computer, in addition to cancer and ACS facts. We asked for a $1 donation that would be included in the amount we raise for Relay. In between contestants, we played 2 ACS “More Birthdays” videos to advertise the “More Birthdays” slogan of the American Cancer Society. We also kicked off our Piggy Bank Challenge at this event. We purchased purple piggy banks that we handed out to students and faculty interested in participating in this event. The challenge was to fill the piggy banks by their due date of April 1st. The person to raise the most amount of money would get a prize! In total, we raised about $150.

SCHOOL: University of ScrantonDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Concert for a Cause: We hosted Concert for a Cause around Valentine’s Day. For this event, we had five local bands and a few distant bands come to play at our concert. We asked for a $3 donation from students and $5 from non-students. At our concert, we had prizes that we raffled off. These prizes were American Cancer Society gifts and products and restaurant certificates that were donated. In each bag, we had a piece of paper explaining how to sign up for Relay For Life. We also had food for our participants that the cafeteria donated. We had our registration chairs available to sign up interested teams and we did have three teams sign up that night! We also had a place for participants to purchase and decorate Luminaria bags. Lastly, we had a table to make and decorate Valentine’s Day cards for the

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patients at Hope Lodge in Philadelphia. That night, we made over 100 cards and we ovenighted them to Hope Lodge so that they would make it there in time. To incorporate Advocacy, we made a video composed of people’s attitudes about cancer, reasons why they Relay, and personal messages that they would send to their loved ones affected by cancer if they had the chance. One committee member also incorporated some pictures from when she worked at Camp Can Do this past summer. In the video, we briefly described Relay For Life's purpose and encouraged those at our event to get involved.

SCHOOL: University of ScrantonDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Date Challenge: We held a $415 Challenge. To hold this challenge, all you need to do is put the date of your Relay into numbers. For example: April 15 = 4/15= $415! Advertising with posters is always great, and we have a poster of a thermometer all week that we continually updated.

SCHOOL: University of ScrantonSCHOOL: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Meal Swipes: We partnered with an event on campus that allows students to donate their meal swipe to raise money for a fundraiser. Students were able to donate their Friday night dinner swipe on the night of Relay. We advertised all week and received over 100 donations.

SCHOOL: University of ScrantonDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Zumba For Life: We collaborated with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to raise money for the American Cancer Society through Zumba For Life. Student Zumba instructors volunteered to lead our student athletes and University community in Zumba to help raise money for Relay. Registration was $5 or $3 if you had registered for Relay For Life and we had tables in our main student center for students to pre-register and to advertise the event. We had over 100 students and 5 sports teams participate. Many prizes were raffled off and students had an opportunity to win an iPod shuffle with an iTunes giftcard.

SCHOOL: University of Southern CaliforniaDIVISION: CaliforniaBEST PRACTICE: Relay Madness: We coordinated a successful fundraising challenge by adapting Virginia Tech’s legendary Relay Madness. Instead of having fundraising dollars as the deciding factor each week, we decided to switch it up a bit. In the first week, we had the teams that sent the most e-mails, and, in the second week, which was over spring break, we had those who

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raised the most money. Others were the most Luminaria sold online and the most money turned in at Bank Night. Some of the challenges were repeated throughout the challenge but never on back-to-back weeks. The final four teams went up against each other at Relay with the team raising the most in an on-site fundraiser winning a midnight pizza party. Teams got so into it that one of the teams was asking for a side deal at Relay to be notified if they were not winning because they were all prepared to empty their wallets to put themselves in first place.

SCHOOL: University of Wisconsin – SuperiorDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Halloween Dance: We partnered with another on-campus organization, Yellowjacket Activities Crew, to hold a Halloween dance. The dance raised money and awareness about Relay For Life.

SCHOOL: University of Wisconsin – SuperiorDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Kissing Booth: Our committee tabled two days around Valentine’s Day in our student union at our “Kiss Cancer Goodbye” kissing booth. We sold Hersey’s kisses and shirts to raise awareness about Relay For Life.

SCHOOL: Villanova UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Game Day Challenge, Collection at Church, Future Employer Team: This year, we held many successful fundraisers. We had a few different creative online challenges including “Game Day Rematch,” where we pinned U of Pitt’s event total versus our total. We had the church on campus hold a second collection for Relay. This money paid for all of our day-of event expenses. KPMG sponsored a team of future employees at Relay this year! They gave $1,000 and had a full team that fundraised.

SCHOOL: West Chester University of PennsylvaniaDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Late Night Bake Sale: A late-night bake sale was held towards the edge of campus to attract students walking through campus and town. In addition to baked goods, CAC had RFL information available.

SCHOOL: West Chester University of PennsylvaniaDIVISION: East Central

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BEST PRACTICE: Zumba for Relay T-Shirts: A certified Zumba instructor held a free Zumba class on campus as a fundraiser for Relay. We asked for donations and also sold “Zumba for Relay” t-shirts. This event was a huge success, making almost $100 in one quick hour!

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Get The Fun

Themes

SCHOOL: California State University - NorthridgeDIVISION: California BEST PRACTICE: As the Relay VIPs (survivors) made their way across the red carpet, they were treated like true celebrities, complete with paparazzi flash bulb photography and adoring fans asking for their autographs. The red carpet was lined with “Hollywood Stars,” the names of survivors who had attended the Spring Social and made their own handprints and star. Once inside the tent, attendees were treated to a salad bar, a Martinelli’s “champagne” toast, and “Hollywood” goodie bags, containing sunscreen, Relay water bottles, subscriptions to Beauty-Pedia.com, handmade key chains, and free manicure/pedicures from a local nail salon. Showing our survivors that they truly are “VIPs” and pampering them like famous Hollywood celebrities was the goal of this tent.

SCHOOL: DeSales UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Student Relay Theme Election: We had a ballot box in the cafeteria for a week in September where students could vote on a theme for Relay. This activity really stirred interest in Relay For Life early in the year and got students excited about Relay. We were very successful in engaging the whole campus this way. The theme picked was Disney.

SCHOOL: Iowa State UniversityDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Our theme this year was ‘Put a Spotlight on Cancer,’ where we used a Hollywood glam type theme. The entryway to Relay was decked out with a red carpet, movie theater ropes, gold and silver stars, and banners. Survivors were treated to their own event tent, dinner, dessert, a wine toast, and an honorary walk of fame featuring their names along the side of the track on stars. Our Fight Back Ceremony consisted of a special, encouraging music playlist with a slideshow presentation on stage of individual Relayers’ pictures and their written reason why they Relay on a white board they were holding.

SCHOOL: Otterbein UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: On May 6th and 7th, we held our Relay For Life in our Rec Center. Our theme was Relay Around the World. We gave each participant a “passport” where they were instructed to participate in themed laps, committee games, and visit team campsites to receive

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a stamp in their “passport.” The first person to complete the “passport” was given a gift card to a local ice cream parlor. All other participants who completed the “passport” were also given a prize (a pencil, highlighter, or pen). We had each team pick a country to represent. The teams decorated their campsite to reflect their countries. Each team also made a poster to display cancer facts and statistics for their country that could be read by Relay participants walking or stopping by.

SCHOOL: Slippery Rock UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Our 10th Annual Relay For Life was a huge success. The theme was Board Games, which the teams loved. More teams had on-site fundraisers than ever before.

SCHOOL: South Dakota State UniversityDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Our theme this year was Vegas, "What Happens at Relay, Stays at Relay," so Vegas-themed decorations were also used.

SCHOOL: Thomas Jefferson UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: With the TJU chapter of CAC still in its infancy, the focus of this year had rested largely on Relay For Life. Over a hundred members of the Jefferson community attended our “Beach Party” themed Relay For Life, as well as a special guest – the Philly Phanatic, who came and helped support and promote our fight against cancer. While the evening held a tremendous amount of fun and games, from the Mr. Relay Competition to a fun filled mini-boardwalk, complete with boardwalk games, vendors, and prizes, we were also able to incorporate a number of events throughout the evening that helped to remind us why we were there and what we were working towards. For instance, every hour, on the hour, we held a Mission Moment, during which all activities would stop while our Advocacy Chair touched on one of the innumerable aspects of cancer and the fight against it. We happily honored the cancer survivors present with us that night, while our touching Luminaria Ceremony was further enhanced by our on-campus, all female a cappella group. In all, we felt our Relay to be a wonderful blend of remembrance and excitement that was truly enjoyed by all those in attendance.

SCHOOL: University of Wisconsin - Stevens PointDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Our theme for this year’s Relay was “One Life, One World, One Cure” and we focused on creating everything around the destination theme. We incorporated our

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“destinations” theme by creating a Hawaiian survivor reception area, by creating destination themed laps such as New York City lap and a patriotic lap, by giving away mardi gras beads when participants pledged to Fight Back against cancer, and by giving each team a “passport” which recorded all of their team spirit points throughout the night. We gave teams points throughout the night in these passports, and the team with the most points at the end of the event won our Team Spirit Award.

SCHOOL: University of Wisconsin – SuperiorDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Fighting Cancer with Superhero Strength!

Paint the Campus Purple

SCHOOL: Bloomsburg UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We chalked Relay information on the sidewalks all around our Academic Quad, tied ribbons on trees and benches around campus, hung up “Purple People” cut-outs that had Relay information, and hung up a huge poster with Relay information. Also, we hung up posters with rip-off tags at all of the shuttle stops and dorm stormed all the dorm buildings by slipping papers with key Relay information under the doors.

SCHOOL: Dakota State UniversityDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: For our Purple 101 Week, we had quite a plan. To get word out for our Kickin’ Cancer Event, we placed track signs around the DSU campus. We also decorated the marketplace with purple streamers and wrote on the windows displaying the various events and cancer facts. On Monday of Purple 101 Week, we gave away free purple Kool-Aid with cancer facts on the side of the cups. We also placed purple buckets in each building on campus for faculty and staff to donate throughout the week. On Tuesday of Purple 101 Week, we went throughout the campus and handed out cards that had information about our Kickin’ Cancer event as well as a purple ribbon that could be worn. On Friday of Purple 101 Week, we promoted the wearing of anything purple.

SCHOOL: Dickinson CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We hosted a Paint Your Nails Purple Day at one of our many table sittings.

SCHOOL: Lebanon Valley College

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DIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Our Purple Week in the spring consisted of a team scavenger hunt. We contacted all the Team Captains and had them organize their teams together to complete the scavenger hunt. Teams were given supplies, like streamers, ribbon, balloons, chalk, and posters, and clues that told them what to do with those supplies. When they completed their clue, they sent a picture of the decorations around campus and sent it to us in order to get their next clue. They essentially decorated our campus for Paint the Campus Purple week. The very last clue had them raise $20 that would then go towards their team total. The team that won received a gift certificate to our college bookstore as a prize.

SCHOOL: Lock Haven UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: This day was highly advertised during the month prior to the big day. Signs and chalk saying, “It’s coming….x (insert number) days till PTCP” as well as big purple foot prints really got our campus curious of what was to come. On the day, we had a table in the main building of our campus where we passed out purple balloons to tie onto backpacks, purple face paint, Dum Dums for those who didn’t sign up for Relay For Life yet with the website attached, and Smarties for those who were signed up already. We had tons of information all over campus with facts about Relay For Life and the American Cancer Society. We ended the night with our Vera Bradley Purple Bingo which is the same as “Boobie Bingo” but it is Relay For Life themed.

SCHOOL: Mansfield UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Our Paint the Campus Purple week was jam-packed with activities:

- Mini Luminaria Ceremonyo We sent out Luminaria Letters attached to Luminaria bags to all MU faculty and

staff. We set up Luminaria Letters with Luminaria bags at the MU Bookstore for donation by the MU community. We held a ceremony in South Hall Mall at 8PM.

- Paint the Campus Purple Dayo We encouraged the campus community to wear purple in order to raise

awareness for MU’s Relay For Life. We had awareness shirts about the Relay For Life made up and handed out.

- “Take a Bite Out of Cancer”o We worked with cafeteria to coordinate a dinner for the MU students. The

dinner included purple desserts and purple drinks. We decorated cafeteria with purple decorations and banners and held an information table in order to

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promote awareness for both the Relay For Life and cancer. We held raffles to encourage student participation.

- “Beat Cancer” Car Smasho We had a van donated by a local garage and the CAC Committee spray painted a

variety of cancer types on the van. Students were able to “beat cancer” by paying for hits. Costs were $1 for 1 hit, $5 for 6 hits, $10 for 15 hits, and $20 for 30 hits and a Purple Week t-shirt.

SCHOOL: Philadelphia UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We spelled out HOPE with Luminaria bags on a small hill outside the student center windows, put ribbons on lamp posts around campus along with a Relay banner hung in the student center, put a t-shirt on a Thomas Jefferson statue in an educational building and put fun purple decorations in the gym. We also had our Spirit Committee do runs through campus with a boom-box, matching t-shirts, and noise-makers (including Relay Cow-Bells!) to get everyone excited about Relay!

SCHOOL: Shippensburg UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: In February, our CAC chapter planned Paint the Campus Purple in order to spread the word about our upcoming Relay For Life event which was held at the end of March. At the beginning of the week, we held a hot chocolate giveaway outside of the library and handed out brochures with information on our Relay For Life event. On Tuesday, we worked with our dining hall facility and implemented a “purple dinner.” The marketing director of the dining hall allowed us to have tables throughout the week with information on how to sign up for the event and fundraising ideas. On the night of the purple dinner, we had a table with Luminaria bags, “Why I Relay” sign making, and giveaways for a “cancer fact” game. Some of the foods were purple to make students aware that Relay For Life was right around the corner.

SCHOOL: Slippery Rock UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: During Paint the Campus Purple week, the week leading up to Relay, the chapter got approval to paint most of the windows on campus buildings and on Main St businesses just off of campus. They also did tabling all week and handed out purple ribbons and info on Relay. This campus and town-wide publicity really spread the word about Relay.

SCHOOL: University at Buffalo, State University of New York (SUNY)DIVISION: Eastern

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BEST PRACTICE: Paint the Campus Purple was an event hosted in our Student Union to raise awareness and promote our Relay For Life. We encouraged everyone on campus to wear purple on the day of our event. We went through and placed informational stickers on every paycheck given out by our school. On the day of the event, we had a registration table as well as an informational table about our CAC chapter with prizes for trivia questions. We also set up a mock Relay For Life campsite for others to see. We had a variety of activities set up such as purple water pong, purple plunger toss, and bracelet making. There were also various fundraising areas such as t-shirts, bracelets, popcorn, and cotton candy. In addition, we showcased a promotional video the chapter put together for our Relay For Life event, the Purple Glove Dance.

SCHOOL: University of PittsburghDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We hosted two Paint the Campus Purple weeks where we chalked all over campus, encouraged people to wear purple, passed out purple ribbons, window painted on ten local business windows, and created a Refer-A-Friend Program. The Refer-A-Friend program was really easy. We just encouraged participants through a Facebook event, the Relay Facebook page, the Relay website, e-mails from the Team Recruitment Chairs to all participants and at Team Captain meetings to talk to as many people as they could about Relay For Life and encourage them to register. Once a new participant who was referred registered, they sent an e-mail to a Gmail account that the committee created and provided the name of the person who referred them to Relay. We then ran a report through the website to verify that they were actually registered. The program ran from the Monday to the Friday of Paint the Campus Purple Week. We tallied the person who had the most referrals on Friday and sent the winner an e-mail letting her know she was the winner. The prize for the most referrals was $100 from previous CAC fundraisers being transferred to the winner’s fundraising goal. The winner got 10 people to register and, in total, we got 45 people registered through this program.

SCHOOL: University of ScrantonDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We worked with our cafeteria to have purple pancakes for dinner. We decorated the area with purple tablecloths, pompoms, balloons, a sign listing the events of the whole week, and Smarties, Dum Dums, and Lifesaver candies. Students could take Smarties if they knew when Relay was, Dum Dums if they did not, and Lifesavers if they were attending Relay. We encouraged students, faculty, staff, and administration to wear purple all day long. We placed information in teacher’s mailboxes and asked for a $10 donation. We also gave our RFL committee small slips that they could give out to one person they saw wearing purple.

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These slips were for a free Luminaria bag that upon turning in the slip could receive and decorate a Luminaria bag.

Marketing & Relay For Life Awareness

SCHOOL: Coastal Carolina UniversityDIVISION: South AtlanticBEST PRACTICE: Ask Me About My Ribbon: We planned a day where all committee members wore large purple ribbons on their shirts, with a Relay For Life nametag sticker with “Ask me about my ribbon” on it. We wore these all day and got many questions about our stickers and ribbons, where we then had Relay post-its that we gave each interested person information on (whatever they needed, we wrote down).

SCHOOL: Slippery Rock UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Pizza Boxes: We contacted two local pizza joints and gained approval to put flyers about Relay on hundreds of pizza boxes for a weekend one month before Relay and then again the week before Relay. This was great publicity for college students and the community. Committee members signed up to go to the pizza place and put the flyers on the pizza boxes on a Thursday and then the boxes were used during the weekend.

SCHOOL: St. Norbert CollegeDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: “Beat It” Video: We created a great music video which went viral around campus. The video was a remake to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” Our group chased around someone who was dressed up as “cancer” and we eventually “beat cancer” at the end. The student who was dressed up as cancer also participated in an event at Relay, in which people would chase him around the track and try to attach “white blood cells” to him. View the video at http://www.youtube.com/user/SNCCAC/videos.

SCHOOL: University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign DIVISION: IllinoisBEST PRACTICE: Purple Glove Dance: We filmed our own submittal of the “Purple Glove Dance.” We taped many of the other organizations on campus and Relayers dancing in purple gloves and entered it in a contest to win $5,000 for our RFL.

SCHOOL: University of PittsburghDIVISION: East Central

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BEST PRACTICE: Statue Decoration: We were contacted by the Student Government Board and asked if we would like to decorate the Pitt Panther statue on the middle of campus. This is a huge honor because no one is allowed to touch the Panther and we didn’t even contact them, SGB contacted us! So, we put a sign around the Panther’s neck with Relay info and decorated him in as much purple clothing as we could for the week leading up to Relay!

SCHOOL: University of PittsburghDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: “Whip My Hair For A Cure” Video: We made a music video spoofing Willow Smith’s hit song “Whip My Hair” and created lyrics to recruit people for Relay and called it “Whip My Hair For A Cure.” It’s on YouTube (http :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v =68 hZP 3 JlRyE ) and was a lot of fun. We “premiered” the video at our first Kick-Off in November.

SCHOOL: York CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: HOPE Signs: The committee made HOPE signs that were able to be used at Fall Fest, which is the Alumni Weekend/Family Weekend on campus. Painted handprints on the signs were $1 and it was a huge success. These signs were displayed various times throughout the 2010-2011 academic year on campus.

Pre-Relay Events & Activities

SCHOOL: Coastal Carolina UniversityDIVISION: South AtlanticBEST PRACTICE: Baseball Game: We had a Relay For Life Baseball Game. This was an awareness event and baseball game, which was accomplished through collaboration between CCU Athletics and the CAC committee. Athletics let us set up a table next to the ticket counter that was covered in Relay For Life information. In addition, during each inning and in between innings, Relay facts and general cancer education information were announced.

SCHOOL: Cornell CollegeDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Mini Relay For Life: During the week leading up to this event, the volleyball team volunteers went into the classrooms to educate the students about sun safety, eating right, and exercising. The students also collected change to be added to the Relay fundraising total. On the day of the events, the school was divided into two groups and the students were divided and rotated through different stations. The stations were jump-roping, relay races, walking the track, and open play. There were also mini Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

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Teachers and parents were in attendance. This was the third year completing this event and it was a huge success.

SCHOOL: University of AkronDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Fall Back into Relay: In preparation for Relay, we hosted “Fall Back Into Relay.” It is the first look of what Relay is. We rented out a space in our Student Union and, since it was close to Halloween, costumes were a must. We decorated in the spirit of Halloween. This event gets people starting to think about Relay.

SCHOOL: West Chester University of PennsylvaniaDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Flyers in the Dining Hall: CAC members passed out sunscreen, skin cancer facts, and an RFL flyer out to all students eating at the campus dining hall. This not only promoted RFL, but also acted as Cancer Education for those with upcoming spring break plans.

At Relay

SCHOOL: Cornell CollegeDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Demonstrations and Workshops: Throughout the night, we had a continuous schedule of activities and we invited Cornell organizations and groups to do demonstrations, shows, workshops, etc. This was a new feature and a great success, with events such as a swing dancing and capoeira workshops.

SCHOOL: DeSales UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: VIP Tent: At Relay, participants could buy time in the VIP tent for $1 or 3 Relay bucks for 5 minutes. The tent had chairs, food, soda, water, blankets and space heaters. Our event is held outside so people being in the tent was a luxury. (NOTE: Some participants might be offended by the concept of a “VIP Tent” because our survivors are always the VIPs at our events. Consider renaming this to “Birthday Tent” or something else that would better suit your Relay.)

SCHOOL: Johnson & Wales University – ProvidenceDIVISION: New EnglandBEST PRACTICE: Wing Bowl: Wing Bowl is an event where teams of 3 compete to eat chicken wings of 3 different levels of heat. The team that has the fastest collective eating time won a

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$100 donation to their Relay team. Only members from existing Relay teams could participate, and we raised $250 from the entrance fees.

SCHOOL: Lebanon Valley CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: On-Site Fundraisers: We had some successful events at our Relay which turned out to be rather popular:

- Pie-A-Coach/Person – Students paid $1 to pie their coach or RA in the face- Purple Toilet – We had an actual toilet, which was painted purple, set up in the middle

of our track. Throughout the night, we had recognizable people on campus sit on the toilet and ask people for money. They got really creative by decorating themselves with toilet paper and bringing in newspapers.

- Ice Melt – Teams used anything but their hands to melt a block of ice to find a penny that was frozen inside.

SCHOOL: Lehigh UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Cake Decorating Competition: We hosted a cake decorating competition at Relay.

SCHOOL: Lehigh UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Kickboxing Class: This year, we were able to have the Relay For Life Co-Chair’s mother, who is a caregiver, speak and teach a “Fight Back Against Cancer” Kickboxing Aerobics class after members of the committee spoke about how important it is to fight back and ways to do so. The kickboxing class was a lot of fun and brought a lot of energy. The upbeat music and exercise got everyone powered up again early in the morning to continue Relaying and fighting back against cancer!

SCHOOL: Northern Illinois UniversityDIVISION: IllinoisBEST PRACTICE: Wellness Wagon: At Relay For Life, we had a wellness wagon that was wheeled around to the campsites. The wagon had information about the American Cancer Society, smoking, tanning, and nutrition.

SCHOOL: Philadelphia UniversityDIVISION: East Central

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BEST PRACTICE: Sprit Committee at Relay: The Spirit Committee acted as the heart of our Relay. The committee consisted of 7 highly energetic students that were not afraid to make a scene. The Spirit Committee’s uniform consisted of purple spirit shirts, ACS sunglasses, an ACS hat, and a Relay For Life cape (laundry bag). The committee had spirit runs where they made posters and carried an iPod boom box through campus. We also had members of our Spirit Committee enter contests on campus to represent Relay. The Spirit Committee conducted dining hall and studio runs where they passed out everything from bookmarks to energy drinks. The Spirit Committee would cheer and get everyone excited about Relay. They definitely turned heads on campus!

SCHOOL: South Dakota State UniversityDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Duct Tape Fashion Show: We held a Duct Tape Fashion Show. Teams brought different colors of duct tape with them to the event and the committee provided the newspaper to help them create their outfits.

SCHOOL: St. Norbert CollegeDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: Balloons for Track: Balloons are brought in to line the track, each one bearing the name of a person touched by cancer. Survivors take the track for a lap to Celebrate, Remember and Fight Back.

SCHOOL: Stanford UniversityDIVISION: CaliforniaBEST PRACTICE: Cancer Education Games: At Relay, throughout the day, the Cancer Education tent organized a number of educational activities and initiatives. Throughout the day, we sold "Shots of Sunscreen,” which were 2 oz. glasses of sunscreen, the recommended amount that a person should apply to their whole body. There was also an Information Prize Wheel. Participants would come and spin the wheel and, if they answered the question correctly, would receive a prize from a basket full of Relay For Life accessories and other small gifts. Muffins, cupcakes, and cookies were also sold at the tent throughout the day to fundraise for Relay. In the evening, we hosted a round of Jeopardy for all teams to play against each other. Each category consisted of a different type of cancer (Breast, Colon/Rectal, Lung, and Skin) and the winning team received the grand prize of a dozen Sprinkles cupcakes and a coveted Relay For Life blanket. Moreover, the displays from the Great American Smokeout and Faces of Cancer were set up around the track throughout the day. The Faces of Cancer Display consisted of 10 posters, each one illustrating a personal story from a student who has been affected by cancer. These posters were made to publicize Relay the previous 3 years, but we put them all

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out together at Relay this year inside an enclosed pop-up tent so participants could walk inside and read the very personal stories of their classmates.

SCHOOL: University of California - Los AngelesDIVISION: CaliforniaBEST PRACTICE: Mission-Focused Games: Our goal was to make sure that no one left the event without learning something new about cancer prevention, early detection, and the different ACS patient services. Additionally, we wanted the participants to learn valuable information that could be passed onto their loved ones. The following is a list of the various activities and their goals and purpose.

- “Protect Your Balls” Dodgeball Tournament: Dodgeball tournament to promote daily physical activity and raise prostate cancer awareness

- “Operation: Save Epidermis:” Visor-making to promote sun safety awareness- “Relay your Knowledge:” Scavenger hunt to educate Relayers about the American

Cancer Society’s many patient services, such the Road to Recovery program- “Prize Pong:” The new, alcohol-free form of beer pong to educate people about liver

cancer and its relationship to excessive alcohol consumption- “Ultimate Triathlon:” Promote healthy eating and daily physical activity- Brownie Mix Game: Portray what the lungs of a smoker look like and raise awareness

about smoking and lung cancer- ”Breast it Up:” Breast Cancer Jeopardy to raise awareness about breast cancer, breast

self-exams, and mammograms- Smoking “Quit Kit” Making: Attendees made personalized quit kits for themselves or

people who they knew who smoked- “Pop the Polyp:” A game to raise awareness about cervical and colorectal cancer and

educate attendees about early detection methods such as pap smears - Skin, Cervical, and Colorectal Cancer Crossword Puzzles: Educate participants about

these cancers and ways they can prevent and detect them early on - Growing “Why I Relay” Chain: Participants wrote down why they Relay on a slip of

colored paper and their reason was linked onto the growing “Why I Relay” chain. This showed how all of the participants are connected by this amazing cause and their unified desire to FIGHT BACK!

SCHOOL: University of PennsylvaniaDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Bands, Rave, S’mores Station, Meatball Eating Contest: We had 11 bands perform throughout the night as entertainment. We had around 25 team fundraisers at Relay For Life alone – including a “Rave” (they sold glowsticks and then turned off all of the lights and

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danced), a S’mores Station sponsored by the Hershey’s Company team, and a meatball eating contest.

SCHOOL: University of PennsylvaniaDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Survivor Speakers throughout the Night: We had six cancer survivors speak throughout the night, ranging from a student who designs purses from the bandanas that she wore during her chemo treatment and sells them at Saks Fifth Avenue, to a Penn faculty couple who are both survivors, to a Penn student and her mother who were both diagnosed with cancer around the same time. The ceremony and the “Hope” and “Cure” signs, followed by laps around the stadium, were very moving.

SCHOOL: University of PittsburghDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Root Beer Pong, Ms. Relay Competition: Participants were entertained all night with live bands, a step group, karaoke, and activities. We brought back the most popular activities from last year: root beer pong and the Ms. Relay Competition. We had 50 teams sign up for root beer pong and it raised over $300. Six guys registered for Ms. Relay and they raised $200 and were a lot of fun to watch. The Ms. Relay participants had one hour to go around the Relay and Oakland (the town where Pitt is located) to raise as much money as they could. We also had a Viva Las Vegas Relay that was very entertaining to watch.

SCHOOL: Wilkes University DIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: “Trash Cancer” Can: We had a large trash can which we spray painted the word cancer on and gave people the opportunity to “Trash Cancer.”

SCHOOL: Worcester Polytechnic Institute DIVISION: New EnglandBEST PRACTICE: Supply Drive: For the first year, we also did a materials drive for the local Hope Lodge as a competition between teams, which was successful.

Fight Back

SCHOOL: Allegheny CollegeDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We got 200 purple and white helium balloons donated from Giant Eagle (they were the eco-friendly balloons) and gave each person at Relay a blank piece of paper to write

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down their Fight Back pledge. The participants tied their messages to the balloon strings and we released them in unison, the message being that if you want to be successful in making a positive change, it doesn’t help to keep that pledge to yourself: you have to release it into the universe. While people were writing their pledges, the Advocacy/Mission Chair gave a short speech on all of the ways you can Fight Back against cancer.

SCHOOL: Binghamton University, State University of New York (SUNY) DIVISION: EasternBEST PRACTICE: In the past, we have held our Fight Back Ceremony immediately before our Closing Ceremony. This year, we chose to hold the ceremony earlier in the night, around 2:00 AM, in an attempt to engage more participants. We scheduled BU’s ROTC to hold “Boot Camp” and an instructor from BU’s FitSpace to host Zumba. We wanted to use activities to engage the participants at the stage and provide a physical component to the idea of fighting back. Then, we showed a video created by our committee challenging participants to fight back against cancer, asking them “What are YOU gonna do?” Participants wrote their own pledges on a banner and sent e-mails through our “Click for a Cure” Station. We ended the ceremony with an all-participant lap.

SCHOOL: Bloomsburg UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Our Fight Back Ceremony was a boxing match narrated by the Event Chair. The fight had three rounds and was between a cancer patient and cancer. The narration included details of cancer treatment and results and ended with the defeat of cancer.

SCHOOL: Brandeis University DIVISION: New EnglandBEST PRACTICE: Our Relay Fight Back Ceremony was extremely moving. We started the ceremony with a student survivor speaking about her experience and how she has made it her goal to take action to fight back against cancer. Her speech was both poignant and inspirational. After the survivor speaker, the Mission/Advocacy Committee facilitated activities and games for the participants. The first game was a team-building game. We asked the participants to get into teams of 8-10 people and form a knot with their hands. The first 8 teams that untangled their knot moved onto the second round. The next game was cancer trivia, which included answers applicable to Fighting Back against cancer. The two winning teams moved onto the next round. Finally, the two final teams were asked to pass a balloon from the front of the line to the back of the line and then to the front again without using their arms. The winning team won free entrees at a local restaurant.

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SCHOOL: Coastal Carolina UniversityDIVISION: South AtlanticBEST PRACTICE: We told our participants that we know cancer sucks, and we know we wish we could let out our anger, because, at times, all we want to do is scream and yell. So, we then revealed a huge plywood board with the word “CANCER” spray-painted on it. We told the crowd, “This is cancer. We know you need to get your anger out. If you could say something to cancer, what would it be? We know there are going to be a lot of bad words all over this, so we might have to censor it later on, but get your feelings out and write what you need.” This was probably the best idea we ever had, because, as our committee members held markers, a swarm of people came to write on it.

SCHOOL: DeSales UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We placed flags in the ground representing the number of people lost to cancer each year. During the Fight Back Lap, each Relayer was invited to pick a flag and walk the lap to signify their fight to eradicate this disease.

SCHOOL: Doane CollegeDIVISION: High PlainsBEST PRACTICE: A member of our faculty, who is also an alumna with two students attending Doane, has a Taekwondo studio in town that her family owns and runs. Her husband is a cancer survivor and was also our speaker for the Fight Back Ceremony. He talked about what it took to get through his treatment and what changes his family has made in their lives since then to be more aware of their health. The studio’s students, members, and family then did a Taekwondo demonstration.

SCHOOL: Duquesne UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Right after the Fight Back Ceremony, participants were encouraged to stay and play Jeopardy with cancer facts. This game was created by the Advocacy & Cancer Ed Committee on four large pieces of cardboard. It was really informative, and teams got really competitive. It was a lot of fun.

SCHOOL: Frostburg State UniversityDIVISION: South AtlanticBEST PRACTICE: This year, we had a great Fight Back Ceremony. Miss Maryland Teen spoke about her mother’s battle with cancer and the importance of awareness and early detection. In addition, Unified Voices Under God’s Dominion sang some inspirational songs and showed their

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support for the event and survivors. Two speakers spoke on the fact that this was our ten-year anniversary and let the students and other participants know how they have helped in that span of time. Our ACS Staff Partner spoke about where our money was going and what last year’s funds helped Maryland accomplish. Also, the President of the University thanked everyone for their hard work and congratulated us on our success.

SCHOOL: Miami UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Our Relay For Life Fight Back Ceremony consisted of popular music (http :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v = CpMUKhpWLF 0 ) that we remixed so the lyrics were related to cancer awareness and advocacy. The leaders of CAC and those involved in planning Relay For Life were on stage to lead the ceremony. We had a Fight Back banner for Relay participants to sign.

SCHOOL: Northeastern University DIVISION: New England BEST PRACTICE: We started our Fight Back Ceremony with a “Flash Die” of about 120 people in Matthews Arena. This Flash Die included students from our performance group, NU Improv, as well as other CAC volunteers and Relay committee members. People who were not involved were immediately aware that 120 people just dropped to the floor. Our Ceremonies Chairperson then spoke, saying that the number of people that fell roughly represents the amount of people that just passed away due to cancer. Next, some of the people that “died” went to the stage and shared their own personal pledge of what they will do to fight back against cancer. The event really grabbed the attention of all the Relayers at the event, making Fight Back an effective ceremony.

SCHOOL: Pepperdine UniversityDIVISION: CaliforniaBEST PRACTICE: Our Fight Back Ceremony featured a humorous musical skit highlighting the different ways that Relay participants can fight back throughout the year. We highlighted research, getting regular check-ups and screenings, supporting loved ones who are fighting cancer, using protective measures such as a nutritious diet and exercise, and, finally, raising money and awareness with events such as Relay For Life. Next, the President spoke and shared the current Relay fundraising total. At the end of the ceremony, a cancer survivor shared her story and spoke about what Relay means to her and how she continues to fight back. The ceremony concluded with the victory lap with the committee leading the way to “Wave Your Flag,” the theme from the World Cup, which was chosen because each participant was given a

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Relay flag. Finally, the committee formed a cheering tunnel for the participants to run through at the end.

SCHOOL: Philadelphia UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: The Fight Back speaker was our Advocacy Chair since it took place at 1:00AM. The Chair passed out index cards with black or purple x’s on them to participants. When the crowd gathered for the ceremony, we asked for all of the people with x’s to come to the front. We then explained that each person represented 100 people that were diagnosed that day with cancer in the United States alone. Then, we asked for all the people with purple x’s to sit down and explained that that represented the amount of people that day that died from cancer. We then provided ways to fight back such as wearing sunscreen, writing your legislators, eating healthy, and exercising. We concluded the ceremony with a symbolic lap to Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gunna Take It.”

SCHOOL: State University of New York (SUNY) - OneontaDIVISION: Eastern BEST PRACTICES: The Spirit Committee had a team-building game set up where two circles of people, one inside the other, face-to-face, would spin in opposite directions. Music was played and, when it stopped, a question was asked. The questions were things like, “Why do you Relay?,” “Have you lost anyone to cancer? Or do you know someone battling cancer?,” etc. The game showed that we were all there for a reason: to fight this battle against cancer.

SCHOOL: University of California – Los AngelesDIVISION: CaliforniaBEST PRACTICE: During the ceremony, we had participants take a final victory lap to the tune of Journey’s classic “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Half the participants walked clockwise and the other half counterclockwise, passing on the opposite side of the track and exchanging high-fives. This was mentioned several times by participants as one of the most inspiring and touching moments of Relay - leaving them ready to continue Fighting Back against cancer!

SCHOOL: University of CincinnatiDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: The Fight Back Ceremony was led by our Cancer Advocacy Chairs. The ceremony began shortly after the Luminaria Ceremony and was designed to help Relay participants continue to reflect on how they have been affected by cancer and how they can work to fight back. The ceremony's main theme was "Dear Cancer," in which a video showed people who wrote to cancer and gave a tangible reason why they wanted to find a cure. After

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the ceremony, participants were invited to write a message on how they personally will take a step to fight cancer on a banner. The banner was hung near our event information tent for the rest of the night.

SCHOOL: University of Nebraska – OmahaDIVISION: High PlainsBEST PRACTICE: As a committee, we wrote on poster boards how we were going to fight back against cancer and stood along the track for the participants to see as they walked. We made a huge state cut-out (since our theme was 50 States, 1 Cause), which everyone signed within the state that they were representing.

SCHOOL: University of ScrantonDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: We found our fight back Ceremony to be as powerful as our Luminaria Ceremony this year. It was a huge success for us and we were very pleased with how the participants reacted. We borrowed the “line game” idea from the movie Freedom Writers for our ceremony. We divided the participants into two groups, one on the left side and one on the right with an imaginary line in between the two. When we said the reason for Fighting Back that pertained to the participant, we asked that they step to the line.

SCHOOL: University of Wisconsin – SuperiorDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: We’ve included an excerpt from the Fight Back Ceremony script.

Speaker 1: We need all of you to commit to saving one life this year. It may be your own, the life of a family member, friend, or co-worker, or the life of someone you don't even know yet. If we all make a pledge to save just one life, then together our flames of hope will unite to create a world with more birthdays. To not take action, to not fight back year-round, is to let cancer win.

Speaker 2: Let's do more by taking out our cell phones and texting volunteer to 73585. Again, that number is 73585. Doing so will support the endeavors of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network, which is the nation’s leading cancer advocacy organization that is working every day to make cancer issues a national priority. Currently, ACS CAN is working in Wisconsin to provide breast and cervical cancer screenings and treatments to low-income, uninsured women and to get insurance companies to cover colorectal screenings. Colorectal cancer is the number two cancer killer of people in Wisconsin. Our division was the first division in the nation to be completely smoke-free. Let’s have a round of applause celebrating our success.

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(NOTE: For information about ACS CAN Mobile, visit http://action.acscan.org/mobile.)

Post-Relay Events & Activities

SCHOOL: DeSales UniversityDIVISION: East CentralBEST PRACTICE: Thank You Party: After Relay, we held a thank you party for student Relay participants where we held another raffle in which all participants were entered at no cost. We sent out thank you cards and at the party we served food and had Disney (theme) games.

OtherThe following example represents how a school that was unable to hold a twelve-hour event was able to adapt the Relay For Life model to plan a successful event in line with the mission of the American Cancer Society and Relay For Life.

SCHOOL: Dakota State UniversityDIVISION: MidwestBEST PRACTICE: “Kickin’ Cancer” Event with a theme of “Dedicated through the Decades:” Because our organization is still fairly new and we’re still developing a “student following,” we don’t hold a full twelve-hour event to officially call ourselves “Relay For Life.” We still follow the typical model of Relay For Life - our schedule (as listed below) is just shortened. For the past two years we’ve held our event outside, but the weather was raining and cold and ended up causing our event to be moved indoors this year. We’ve heard a lot of great comments about having the event inside and have been encouraged to continue to hold them indoors somewhere, hopefully with a little more room to move around. Our goals for this year were 14 teams, 9 survivors, and to raise a total of $8,000. We did meet all of these goals. We had 15 teams, 15 survivors and had already met our monetary goal by 7:00PM. We set a new goal of $10,000 to raise by the end of the school year, and currently we have surpassed that with a fundraising total of $10,041.12 (We still have one more opportunity for additional funding to come in as we partnered with a cell phone recycling company that has partnered with ACS to provide a check for phones that are donated for recycling. We are in need of just a few more before sending them in but this total will go up slightly.)

Schedule:

- 3:00PM-5:00PM Set-Up- 5:00PM-6:00PM Team and Survivor Registration- 5:00PM-7:00PM Supper

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- 6:00PM Opening “Celebrate” Ceremonyo Welcomeo History of the Relay For Life Evento Recognition of Honorary Survivoro Survivor Lap = “I’m Alive” by Celine Diono Team Recognition and Lapo Announcements

- 6:30PM-9:00PM Games, Entertainment, and Fun- 6:30PM-7:30PM Pie Throwing: have 4 people do increments of 15 minutes

Tug of WarBean BagsFootball Toss

- 7:00PM Theme Lap: Favorite Sports Team- 7:00PM-8:00PM Car Smash

Scavenger Hunt- 7:30PM-8:00PM Frozen T-shirt

Theme Lap: TogaLocks of Love

- 8:00PM-8:30PM Miss DSU (Guys Dress as Girls) - 8:45PM-9:00PM Name that Tune- 9:00PM Luminaria “Remember” Ceremony

o “Why we Relay”o Remember and Honor Loved Oneso “I Won’t Let Go” by Rascal Flatts

- 9:30PM-10:00PM Relay “Survivor” Game - “Outwit, Outlast, Outplay”- 10:00PM Theme Lap: Favorite Decade- 10:00PM-10:30PM Musical Chairs - 10:30PM-11:00PM Hot Dog Eating Contest - 11:00PM-11:30PM Theme Lap: Poker- 12:00AM Last Theme Lap: Hawaiian- 12:00AM-12:30AM Glowstick/Flashlight Limbo- 12:30AM “Fight Back” Ceremony

o Fight Back pledge cards & sign bannero Group Lap around the tracko “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey

- 1:00AM Clean-up by teams and committee members