{"id":146009,"date":"2026-03-23T14:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/146009\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T14:49:08","slug":"relay-for-life-raises-19079-79-for-american-cancer-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/146009\/","title":{"rendered":"Relay for Life raises $19,079.79 for American Cancer Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Craig Connolly was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer four days after his 30th birthday, he called it a \u201cbelated birthday gift.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Friday, one year and three months cancer-free, Connolly was the featured survivor speaker at Relay for Life<\/a>, a fundraising event supporting cancer patients and survivors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLife won\u2019t stop if you have cancer,\u201d Connolly said. \u201cIt keeps going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Craig Connolly is speaking at Relay for Life. He is a Stage 4 cancer survivor and was the featured speaker at the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grace Hall was decorated with balloons as staff, students and community members gathered for the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Co-presidents Madison Hilman, \u201826, and Morgan Paul, \u201826, have been involved with Relay for Life and Lehigh Colleges Against Cancer since their first years at Lehigh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI first heard about Relay for Life through Madi, and then the club fair,\u201d Paul said. \u201cCancer affects everyone in some way or another, and I\u2019ve had experiences of it affecting me and my grandmother who passed away from pancreatic cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hilman said the goal is to raise as much money as possible for the American Cancer Society while spreading awareness about cancer prevention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2019, the group raised more than $100,000, but Hillman said the organization hasn\u2019t reached that total since COVID.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter COVID, I think people stopped realizing that (Lehigh) could get together for something like this,\u201d Hilman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul said the organization had raised about $16,000 toward its $25,000 goal before the event began. She also said 100% of proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people are proud, and I just hope over time more people will learn about this event and more people want to be involved,\u201d Paul said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hilman said planning began last August and included partnership with Greek organizations and other campus groups. The event also received sponsorships from brands such as Poppi probiotic soda and Saint James Organic Tea, along with protein snack companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s theme was rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, which Hillman said was reflected in activities such as Dance Dance Revolution and\u00a0 Guitar Hero.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hilman said one of the biggest challenges was getting people involved, noting that many attendees come from Greek life.<\/p>\n

Abigail Ryvkin, \u201829, said Relay for Life is important to Zeta Tau Alpha because its philanthropy., Think Pink,<\/a> supports breast cancer awareness and research. She said her sorority staffed a table to raise money and promote research, hoping to contribute in any way possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cCancer is one of those roaches of a disease that affects so many lives,\u201d Ryvkin said. \u201cIf we can be a part of the small, small percentage of people that helps, we\u2019re gonna do anything we can to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event began with each participant and organization taking a lap around the space to symbolize their commitment to fundraising efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Performances included the Lehigh Melismatics, dance team, cheer team and the Marching 97. Attendees also participated in karaoke and Just Dance, and a magician and balloon artist were present.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0After the event, participants 21 and older attended an afterparty at F&A Grog House, where 10% of dining proceeds were donated to the fundraiser\u2019s total.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Craig Connolly was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer four days after his 30th birthday, he called it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[48710,119,121,120,5400,5609],"class_list":["post-146009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-3-min-read","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-clubs","tag-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}