‘Relay’ on pace for $100,000 (Photo by Austin Kilgore, The Daily Campus)

The Panhellenic Council held their second-annual cancer fundraiser, Relay for Life, this past weekend.

The event alone has already raised $84,361, which is significantly ahead of last year’s pace.

“Last year at this time, we had $63,042 in hand, and raised an additional $15,000 after the event,” said Relay Chair Erica Crocker.

With online and corporate donations still being made, the organization is expecting to collect a total of about $100,000.

Crocker attributes the increase to the fact that people were more familiar with the process of fundraising this year. Everyone had a concept of a timeline and started raising money earlier in the year.

“It really hits home for a lot of people,” said Crocker. “Almost everyone has been affected by cancer, directly or indirectly.”

The event kicked off at 7 p.m. on Friday with a luminaria, followed by a film, in which people who have been affected by the disease shared their stories.

The event drew a total of 46 teams, each of which had to raise $100 in order to participate. The teams consisted of eight to 15 members, who each took turns walking around the Boulevard.

The point in walking all night is to symbolize the fact that cancer never sleeps, and that victims of the disease should remember to push through the difficult times.

Many of the teams pitched tents to provide a place to rest and hang-out during their time off from walking. In addition, teams gave themselves names and themes, and decorated their tents accordingly.

One of the many contests that took place during the event was for the best campsite, which was awarded to the Alpha Chi Omega team “Senior Frogs.”

Teams competed to accumulate points throughout the event in costume contests, flag football and tug-of-war. Teams with the most points at the end received trophies.

Perhaps the most popular contest was “Mr. Relay,” in which men dressed up as women and strutted their stuff, Miss America style.

Student body officers voted Brooks Thomas the prestigious title of Mr. Relay.

There were also contests between the teams of who had raised the most money for the American Cancer Society. The Junior Pi Phi Angels team won first place for raising a total of $4,876, while Stephanie Hancock, member of Kappa Team Two won the award for the most money raised by an individual, $3,725.

As the 12-hour event came to an end on Saturday morning, students enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes and coffee while celebrating their contribution to the fight against cancer.

For information on how to make a donation, visit www.acsevents.org/ts/relay/smu and click on the “get involved” link.