Relay for Life: A Start

Several weeks ago, my friend Meng Meng called me and asked me about joining her team for Relay for Life. I quickly agreed, excited for this opportunity. Relay for Life, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, is a volunteer-driven cancer fundraising event which takes place in over 21 different countries, all raising money for the fight against cancer.

Sadly, due to the necessity of studying for Midyears, I couldn't go to the first meeting, scheduled last Monday, and yet I'm excited for our next one.

From what I've heard so far, our team, Strawberry Avalanche, will be hosting a bottle drive, probably collecting cans from neighbors, and making chocolate covered strawberries to sell at the event. With these ideas in place, I've also considered perhaps holding a bottle drive or food-sale at Detroit Country Day in order to raise some money. I'll of course have caucus with Meng Meng about that idea (as I am the only team member attending Country Day).

To successfully undertake and implement our ideas for Relay for Life, will require much teamwork from everybody in our team. Personally, I recognize that I naturally tend to take all the work onto myself and lead discussions. However, as Meng Meng is the team leader, I must allow her to act and be the part of the leader. In this way, I can become part of the team, rather than holding the team back by taking a position that is not mine.

Similarly, I must recognize the global importance of my teams actions. Not only are we taking time out of each of our busy schedules to organize and implement a successful fund raiser, but the impact that results from our work is huge. Millions of people are suffering from cancer, and our team will help raise funds for further research into possible treatments for cancer. Ethically, my relatively small actions of fund raising have an enormous impact on people's lives.

I just got my Relay for Life packet today from my friend Hannah. I'm looking forward to March 27th... the date for Relay for Life :)

I'll keep you updated on my progress.