The university’s new Relay For Life club will try to boost support for the annual American Cancer Society Relay For Life event, a club official said.

Sheri Milhollin, staff adviser for the club, said it is focused on raising money and awareness for the 12-hour overnight relay.

Relay For Life is a cancer-fighting event where participants form teams to walk around a track and raise money to support the American Cancer Society. According to the Relay Web site, the event aims to celebrate the lives of those affected by cancer and to fight back against the disease.

Each team of 10 to 15 people is asked to keep one member on the track at all times of the night to symbolize the fact that cancer never sleeps, Milhollin said, adding that the club would like to see university faculty and staff put together a team.

Milhollin, who also served as the team development chair for the Fort Worth Relay For Life event, said she started the club after participants from the university expressed interest in having a place to meet with other relayers.

“The club is a way to bring past and hopefully future relayers together,” Milhollin said. “(It) gives them an opportunity to network with each other and to be able to do joint fundraising ventures.”

The club will hold one on-campus fundraiser this year, a game night Feb. 22 in the University Recreation Center, and plans for two next year, Milhollin said.

“The club itself will raise zero money (for itself),” Milhollin said. “Each team raises the money, and that money goes directly to the American Cancer Society to help them in research, education, advocacy and patient services.”

Senior history and criminal justice major Adam Martinez, the club’s president, said the club was a perfect fit for him.

“I first saw them at (the) activities fair, and they jumped out to me because my grandpa died of cancer, and so I’ve always been an activist in fighting cancer,” Martinez said.

Martinez said he hoped the club would bring more awareness to campus and encourage more students to participate in Relay For Life events.

Junior nutrition major Ellen Plummer, the club’s secretary and treasurer, said the Relay For Life event she attended had entertainment for everyone, including music, dancers, food and a blow-up game of Twister.

The event also features more than just fun and games. According to the Relay For Life Web site, the event features the Survivors’ Lap, where cancer survivors circle the track together at the start of the event, and the Luminaria Ceremony, during which candles are lit after dark inside bags bearing names of those affected by cancer. The Fight Back Ceremony, where participants make a promise to save lives by fighting cancer, takes place at the end of the event.

Fort Worth Relay For Life

When: 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. April 9-10

Where: Farrington Field

For more information about the club visit the TCU Relay For Life Club Facebook page or e-mail Sheri Milhollin at [email protected].