Circle of Life aims to help young cancer survivors

Junior Kevin MacCauley wanted to get involved when he first came to IU. Shortly after arriving in Bloomington, however, his attention was diverted from typical college living.\n"I had a benign cyst removed and it occurred on a weekend when I had a couple of exams," MacCauley said. "It caused me to think of all the people who are younger and missed out on college because they had a more serious situation with cancer."\nSo MacCauley started a new charitable fund-raising organization on campus, the Circle of Life foundation. \nThe organization aims to provide a young cancer patient from either the IU Cancer Center or Riley Hospital for Children Cancer Center with a full scholarship to IU. It recently established an account through the IU Foundation for the Bill Z. Littlefield Scholarship for Survivors, named for a Kelley School of Business professor who died of cancer this summer. Circle of Life has already received a $5,000 contribution from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.\n"We are going to give a chance to somebody who originally was fighting this alone, facing death by themselves," MacCauley said. "We want to give them a second chance to get an education so they can get into a career and start a family and so on." \nCircle of Life chartered a constitution and held its first meeting in January. Last week it publicly announced its first major project -- a mini-marathon to be held Sept. 9, 2006.\nCynthia Rex, the faculty advisor for Circle of Life, said she is impressed with the group's rapid progress. \n"Just last January, all of this was only a thought in Kevin's head accompanied by enormous passion," Rex said. "I, and others, have been dazzled."\nMacCauley unofficially began the recruitment process by gaining the support of Samantha Roper and Jessica Mullins, his group partners in a class last spring. \nMullins said she became immediately interested when MacCauley approached her with the idea. Mullins, MacCauley and Roper became founding members. She currently serves as Circle of Life's vice president of marketing.\n"The cause in general and the opportunity to give back really got me," Mullins said. "The word 'cancer' affects people. I can't imagine people not wanting to get involved."\nThe initial call-out in January generated interest in Circle of Life, but the number of active members remains small.\n"This is a lot of work. We're looking for leaders who will come to us and have that passion and desire to get involved," MacCauley said. "We want to break some barriers and we will continue to sign up leaders."\nNext September's mini-marathon will be the first of its kind in Indiana. Circle of Life chief operating officer and junior Myles Grote sai the race has potential to raise a lot of money. He also stressed the importance of student support.\n"Student involvement is going to be the key to our success. It's what diversifies us from any other race," Grote said. "Many races are run through college campuses, but ours is the only one that's actually organized by students."\nThe race will begin and end outside Memorial Stadium and wind through the most scenic areas of the campus. IU's beauty is something Circle of Life members are hoping will lure alumni and nationwide participants to Bloomington. The event also serves as a qualifier for larger races and, as MacCauley pointed out, could be an excellent tune-up for the Chicago Marathon.\nMacCauley and Grote indicated that Circle of Life's major decisions are made entirely by student members. They said as long as students maintain a passion for the cause, Circle of Life can remain effective. \n"It's a bunch of average Joes coming together and doing something really above average," MacCauley said.\nStudents interested in learning more about Circle of Life can e-mail MacCauley at kmaccaul@indiana.edu or visit the organization's Web site at www.iumini.com.