community focus and volunteerism

Culver community raises more than $105,000 at their inaugural Relay
For their first ever Relay For Life event on April 18, the Culver community of Indiana partnered with its co-educational college preparatory boarding school, Culver Academies, hoping to raise a minimum of $35,000. The Relay For Life of Culver ended up raising more than $105,000, making it an incredible success.

To kick off the opening ceremony, a student from Culver Academies sang the national anthem which ended with a bang...literally, from a cannon being fired. The cannon signaled the beginning of the first Relay lap, in which survivors were honored and celebrated. Ali Burton, class of 2010 at Culver Academies, and community member Karen Easterday gave moving survivor testimonies of their personal battles against cancer.

After the survivor testimonies and the caregivers lap, Culver revved up the fun with a toilet paper lap, where all walking participants were mummified from head-to-toe in toilet paper. All throughout the Relay For Life of Culver, people kept busy with performances, testimonies from teams and survivors, dancing, games like dodge ball, and various competitions.

The luminaria ceremony was a memorable event where Relay participants took time to remember loved ones lost to cancer. The Culver Honor Guard commenced the ceremony with a slow drumming march while a bagpipe player performed "Amazing Grace". The Culver Legion then followed the performance with a 21 gun salute.

"Seeing those young men march out into the field, wait, and observe during the firing was very moving," said Trisha Metz, ACS Community Representative. Marisa Guarino, a student from Culver Academies, also wrote a poem for a loved one lost to cancer and performed it live towards the end of the ceremony.

Many Culver Academies students were involved in the community Relay, with one specific team being the number three team of the event. The Ciel team, named after a Culver dorm, raised more than $3,000 for the fight against cancer.

Another highlight of the event happened around 4:30 a.m. on April 19. Culver knew they had not yet hit the $100,000 mark at their Relay. They were so determined to reach their goal that they made announcements to everyone about how they were only a few thousand dollars short of what they wanted to raise. Teams made up activities and games on the spot to raise extra funds like playing a game to guess how many jelly beans were in a water bottle. In the end, Culver was able to raise more than $105,000.

The Relay For Life of Culver is a wonderful example of the power of a community coming together to celebrate, remember, and fight back. To learn about the many ways you can participate in a Relay For Life near you, call your American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345, or visit online at www.RelayForLife.org.