By Amira Jaradat
Staff Writer
On April 9, 2011, the lights were dimmed in Indiana State University’s north gym. Participants in last year’s Relay for Life event, each carrying a glow stick, were given instructions. If you’re a cancer survivor, light your glow stick. If you’re a caregiver, light your glow stick. If you know someone that’s had cancer, light your glow stick. One by one, glowsticks were lit. By the end, the gym was dotted with their light.
Relay for Life is an annual, overnight event held in more than 5,100 locations nationwide. It is the culmination of what is, for some teams, a yearlong fundraising process, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.
Teams have been fundraising for months for this year’s event on March 24-25 at Indiana State University.
“It seems like almost everybody these days has been affected by cancer in some way,” said Krista Steinmetz, Hunt Seat coach at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
Steinmetz, who lost her mother to cancer in 2006, heads the SMWC Equestrian Teams relay team, which is made up of all of the students of both the Hunt Seat and Western equestrian teams. The SMWC Equestrian Teams compete in the fundraising event against teams at other Vigo County colleges. “Last year, we were the top online fund-raising team,” said Steinmetz, whose team raised more than $5,000 in 2011.
“I made, or I encouraged, the girls to send out Facebook messages and e-mails… Some students within a few days raised like $300 just by letting their family know what they were doing,” said Steinmetz.
Besides asking for direct donations online, the team also raises money through team fundraisers, many of which are held during equestrian events.
“We had a Pie Your President contest,” said Steinmetz, which pit her, the regional president, against her father, the zone president. “Whoever’s can of money by the end of regional’s had the most in it was going to get a pie in the face,” said Steinmetz. She was the “winner” of that particular contest, but her father, who wore a full-sized bunny suit to pie his daughter, ended up getting pied as well. “Just that event alone raised about $500.”
Steinmetz’s team is not the only group out of SMWC participating in Relay for Life. Besides the SMWC Alums and Friends, run by American Cancer Society Community Representative and SMWC alum Rachel Romas, the Just Smile Every Mile Long team has been the team to beat.
“I think the only team that’s beaten us in the last couple of years has been Just Smile Every Mile Long,” Steinmetz said. “Last year was the first year we really got into it and raised a lot of money and they still beat us,” she said, laughing.
Just Smile Every Mile Long has been participating in Relay for Life since 2005. “In total, we’ve raised well over $30,000. We start with our fundraising right after the relay for the next year,” said Jeanette Wrin, office manager and administrative assistant for SMWC’s Woods Online program.

Photo provided by Krista Steinmetz
“The equestrian teams are a Facebook group; that’s how they raise their money. We kind of raise ours the brick and mortar way,” said Wrin. “They’re doing great. I think it’s going to be pretty close,” she added.
The team, which is mostly made up of Wrin and her relatives, has members ranging from 14 to 70 years old. Besides their yearly yard sale and children’s books sales, one of Just Smile Every Mile Long’s biggest fundraisers is the Shop for a Cure event held every November.
“We have about 35 vendors who come, set up and sell their items and a percentage of their profit goes to the American Cancer Society,” said Wrin. A lunch is also served, last year to about 200 people, all prepared by Wrin’s two daughters.
“About 10 years ago, my daughter developed Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” said Wrin. After her diagnosis, the family heard about Relay for Life and decided to form a team.
“The Relay for Life event is a way to honor the people who are going through cancer,” said Wrin. “It’s also a way to remember people who were lost to cancer and it’s a way to fight back to raise money for research.”
Relay starts with a Survivors lap, in which cancer survivors celebrate their successes by taking to the track. There is also a special lap for Caregivers, or anyone who has offered help and support to a cancer patient.
“I definitely walked with my mom when she was surviving, so that was something that meant a lot to me,” said Steinmetz. “I’m an only child. My dad was always there to help too, but I was with my mom a lot when she was in the hospital.”
Because of the nature of the cause, both teams find many people willing to donate.
“I don’t usually feel bad asking people to get involved and donate because most people have a story,” said Steinmetz. “If you just sit there and ask them, they’ll tell you a personal story about someone in their life who had cancer. It seems like it touches a lot of people.”
“I’m just very, very thankful that my daughter’s doing well,” said Wrin. “And there are a lot of people who have not done so well. I think, even if you’re not on a team, just to come to relay, just physically being there for the relay is a support to someone.”
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