Students gathered in the Student Union Building last Wednesday to listen to stories of loss, survival, and what the Relay For Life event does along with the American Cancer Society to try and eliminate cancer.

The meeting was a kickoff celebration and introduction to the Relay for Life event that will be held at Seattle Pacific's own Wallace Field for the second year in a row.

The event is five months away, but the excitement is already building.

The meeting began by making a connection to SPU. Students who had personal connections to someone with cancer were asked to stand.

In the end, only a handful of students were still sitting.

In 1986, the first team relay took place at Stadium High School in Tacoma, Wash., and raised over $30,000 for cancer research.

Now SPU will be joining more than 3 million Americans in over 4,000 locations across the country on May 5-6, and continue to support research and development of a cure.

Teams that are involved will enjoy a night full of fun, festivities, and celebration.

The 24-hour event begins with a survivor walk. Cancer survivors take a lap around the track to the applause and cheers of all those participating. Throughout the night there will be games, music, food, and a chance for all people involved to get together and raise awareness for the American Cancer Society and its mission to save lives.

Senior biology major and event co-chair Alisha Ragan says that the Relay For Life "gives everyone a different opportunity to honor someone or remember someone that was lost."

This is Ragan's fourth year being involved with Relay For Life, and said she feels driven to honor loved ones lost after battles with cancer.

"It gives an outlet to people," she said. "It evokes every possible emotion that surrounds cancer."

Ragan is on a committee of SPU students that are in charge of organizing, promoting, and getting teams together for the event. This is the last year for many of the members of the committee and they are looking for people to help continue the event for future years.

The committee is hoping to involve businesses and corporations around the area to help support the event.

They have a goal of having close to 40 teams and raising $40,000 this year. Teams can be formed up until the day of the event in person or online at http://spurelay.org.