Phi Mu raises more than $4,000 for Relay for Life

Phi Mu’s involvement in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life each year is personal, Phi Mu team captains, senior Anna Berg and sophomore Kadie Mancuso, explained to the sorority’s newest pledge class.

An alumna died of ovarian cancer, Berg is a cancer survivor herself — and deaf in one ear because of it — and at the informational meeting the sisters shared the reasons they “relay” by remembering those affected by the disease.

“A lot of people in our chapter have been affected by cancer, and a lot of people in our chapter are involved,” Mancuso said. “It is a time to celebrate, remember and fight back.”

Though the whole house supports Relay for Life, it is an initiation activity and bonding experience for the newest class of sisters. To help Phi Mu remain one of the top-raising greek organizations on campus, Mancuso and Berg asked each girl to register by initiation and raise $200 each before the race on April 10.

The sorority has raised $4,000 for the cause online, and it also received cash and check donations.

“I look forward to this bonding experience and getting to know the new girls,” Berg said. “Being a cancer survivor, it’s really nice because it’s the one time of the year I can recognize the fight I had to go through and celebrate being cancer-free.”

This will be Berg’s fourth year participating. She said the hardest part is not staying up late,

walking around the track in the middle of the night or sleeping in tents in the middle of the field. Rather, she said she struggles with the luminaria ceremony, during which candles are lit to recognize those affected by cancer.

Berg is not the only one who gets emotional.

Freshman Leah Westrick was in fourth grade when her grandmother passed away of ovarian cancer. She started her own Relay for Life team then and is excited about participating on Phi Mu’s team.

“I just remember the ceremony and seeing pictures of my grandmother battling ovarian cancer and all these people crying. They were so proud of their relatives,” Westrick said. “It’s overwhelming and so moving to see so many people get together for one purpose.”

Westrick is now the philanthropy chair for her pledge class, answering questions about Relay and helping the sisters raise money. Even the older sisters who do not walk or raise the $200 lend their support; many serve on committees that organize the campus-wide event.

With two weeks left, the sorority said its members are excited.

“I just want to make this an enjoyable experience,” Westrick said. “That way the girls will do all this again.”