Friday, May 17 is going to be a very special day at Huntington High School. The second Relay For Life will kick-off in the late afternoon and continue through the night and until daybreak the following morning. Planning is well underway for the event, which is expected to feature a huge turnout of students, teachers and community members.
Seniors Molly Prep, Gabe Goldman and Nikki Smoot are serving as chairs for the event, which will raise money for the American Cancer Society. Dozens of other students are also involved in the sprawling enterprise. “We meet with committees of Huntington High School students who are passionate about Relay each week in preparation for our big event,” Ms. Smoot said.
A school-wide kick-off assembly for students is planned near the end of the day on Thursday, February 7. It’s designed to get everyone excited about the event, which was a smashing success last spring when it raised $134,000. “We are going to talk about last year’s accomplishments and some of the new and fun activities we have planned for this year,” Ms. Smoot said about the assembly. “We plan to ‘Relay big’ this year and surpass last year’s fundraising total.”
Event organizers will be selling Relay For Life balloon-grams for $1 in the high school cafeteria from January 28-February 6. “Anyone can purchase one and write a note to a friend,” Ms. Smoot said. “They will be delivered to the person of their choice at the end of the school day on February 6.” It will be similar to the way candy grams work, she said.
Organizers are also preparing to sell handsome quarter-zip grey sweatshirts for $30 and long sleeve purple t-shirts for $15. (Purple is the official color of the Relay For Life across the world.) Order forms can be found in the Huntington High School main lobby from February 11-22. Forms should be returned to science teacher Joseph Cohen in room 144.
Mr. Cohen is faculty advisor to the National Honor Society, which is officially coordinating Huntington’s Relay For Life. For more information about the event, contact him at jcohen@hufsd.edu.
Monies raised at the event will be contributed to the American Cancer Society to support “cutting-edge cancer research, early detection and prevention education, advocacy efforts and life-affirming patient services,” according to the group. More than 3.5 million people across the world participate in Relay For Life events.
