10.19.05

From left, senior Marshall Stein, and junior Jeramy Oropeza.

Erskine receives 'Shining Star' award from American Cancer Society for Relay efforts

Erskine College has received the "Shining Star" award from the American Cancer Society for its efforts in last spring's Relay for Life on campus.

Junior Jeramy Oropeza, chairman of the Erskine Relay for Life committee, said the award is given to organizations that raise $10,000 or more in the annual event. Erskine/Due West raised $10,229 in the most recent Relay.

The next Relay is set for April 28, 2006.  Oropeza said planning for next year's Relay has been under way since June and he is choosing not to release the goal for the 2006 event. "It's not a competition," he said. "It's just us going out to raise money to fight cancer."

Next year's Relay will mark Erskine's fifth anniversary event and will be geared more toward the community of Due West. "We couldn't do what we do without the support of the community," Oropeza said. "We're changing the format to involve more families."

The event depends on support from various groups, including the Erskine women's tennis team, the Athenians and Dixie High School. "The women's tennis team raised one-tenth of our money last year," Oropeza said.

Oropeza served as co-chairman last year and was also involved in Erskine's Relay event as a freshman after participating in a similar event at his high school.

"I started doing it as a way to honor my aunt," he said. "She was diagnosed with cancer in the 1990s, and it went into remission, but she was rediagnosed in 2001."

Senior Marshall Stein, treasurer for the Erskine Relay group, said he participated in the event his freshman year as a fund-raiser, but Relay for Life began to hit closer to home with him the following year when his father was diagnosed with cancer.

"Dad's been clear of cancer for a year," Stein said. "That had a big part to play in why my involvement has increased."

Stein said there is a "definite sense of pride" among students, in particular, as it relates to the Relay for Life event. "With each passing year, we have seen participation and the amount of money raised grow."  

That enthusiasm, Stein said, will allow the Erskine event to continue to grow.

Erskine's event has spurred other colleges to have their own Relay efforts. In Spartanburg, all the colleges in the area cooperate for a single Relay that raised $15,000 last year. "We're not that far behind them, which says a lot considering our size and location," Oropeza said.

Erskine and Dixie High School were presented with road signs to display and "denote the importance of Relay at Erskine and in the community." The signs will allow prospective students the chance to see "we're involved in big things," Oropeza said.

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