April 18, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. - When the Relay For Life festivities begin on the Hilltop on Friday evening at 6 p.m., the Georgetown University softball team will be on a bus headed for Connecticut to play two games each with Quinnipiac and Central Connecticut State University over the weekend. While the team will miss the event, overseen by the American Cancer Society, for the second year in a row, their fundraising contributions to a cause that aims to eliminate cancer as a major health problem will not be taken lightly.

After all, the festivities associated with the Relay For Life is just the culmination of months of hard work and fundraising that have gone into the event.

"We missed the event last year, too and it's unfortunate," sophomore catcher Suria Bahadue said. "But it's just an on-going fight so even after the event is over it's not like cancer is going to go away, so it's sort of like event or not we have to do something right now."

Relay For Life is one of the many charity endeavors the Hoyas have been a part of since the inception of the softball program in 2006. The passion behind their efforts is a bit different with how close this cause hits to home.

"This year my aunt passed away from breast cancer also my grandfather is battling cancer, in reality everyone knows someone who is affected by cancer," Bahadue said.

"Every single person, at some point in their life, has been touched by someone by cancer," Georgetown head coach Pat Conlan said. "I lost someone very close to me to cancer and we've had some recent deaths this year affecting kids in our program, so it's a worthwhile cause to find a cure for a disease affecting everybody."

Splitting into two groups, the teams named simply GU Softball Blue and GU Softball Gray, have combined to raise close to $4,000 for the cause, using The American Cancer Society's web page, sending out emails and enlisting parents to help in the fundraising.

"A lot of us have used the American Cancer Society web site, which is a great tool and very interactive," Bahadue said. I emailed my Mom and had her send out emails to everyone in her address book, other girls have contacted their friends through Facebook, and even some phone calls." Time would figure to be a constraint with academics and a lengthy softball schedule filled with road trips, but the team has made time to achieve individual and team fundraising goals.

"It's tough to find time with schoolwork and softball, but you realize how important this cause is," junior rightfielder Christina Gallinari said. "Suria and I sent out emails before the season to let everyone know how important this was and to contact their friends and we've been able to raise a lot of money. I know we've had a number of people reach their goal and exceed their goals and it doesn't end with the relay. It's like I tell my friends when they ask when is the latest they can donate, there is no latest time. Even after the relay is over you can still donate to the American Cancer Society and help survivors and victims of cancer."

Currently, the Hoyas softball team places in the top 30 among local organizations that have raised close to $250,000 toward cancer research. The contributions to the Washington, D.C. metro area have helped put this area among leaders in the nation in dollars raised.

"It gives everyone a purpose, the raising money portion of it you feel like you're able to help with a disease that often makes you feel so helpless," Conlan said.

Relay For Life will begin on Friday at 6 p.m. and continue through Saturday morning at 6 a.m. with the goal of bringing the campus community together to help support the American Cancer Society and its lifesaving mission to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. The Society works hard every day to prevent cancer and save lives by supporting groundbreaking research, affecting public policies that protect us from cancer, and educating people on how to prevent or detect cancer early. The efforts of those involved in the Relay For Life can help the American Cancer Society to keep working toward a cancer-free future.