"Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road,but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence." - Lin Yutang

Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it. -Bill Cosby

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face." Eleanor Roosevelt

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time." ~Author Unknown

And the Planning Begins...

The Relay for Life committee at Mercyhurst University has been meeting for months now to plan our relay. It is being held on APRIL 27 at 1pm - APRIL 28 at 1pm and the theme is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This is our first attempt at hosting a 24hr event, so it should be interesting. Many people may not know, but planning a Relay for Life takes a lot of time, effort, and people. You need a committed group of people who collect funds, create ideas, and gather participants. So far, the number of people signed up and the amount of money raised has been good considering the Relay is still more than a month away. These next couple of months are crunch time and we have begun planning 'Paint the Campus Purple Week' to get students and faculty interested. (Note: THE COMMUNITY IS MORE THAN WELCOME TO JOIN IN RELAY!!!) For Paint the Campus Purple Week, we will be holding themed days to raise funds and awareness.

More Birthdays Monday: We will be holding a bake sale, which will feature a birthday cake. Celebrating more birthdays is one of the many goals of Relay For Life.

Tye-Dye Tuesday: We will be tye-dying shirts purple, which is the color of relay and the color of the week.

WTF (Win The Fight) Wednesday: We will have a board set up that reads "What a World Without Cancer Means to You." People will be free to write on the board and share what they think. I will be putting SANITY up on it.

Throwback Thursday: This is my favorite and I will be at a table all day listening to boy bands while selling colored ribbons and luminaria bags. The ribbons will signify a cancer that you wish to recognize and the luminaria bags will be for a small ceremony being held at night. On the actual day of Relay, there is a luminaria ceremony held where people decorate bags for their loved ones. Then the bags are lit and everyone walks a lap of silence. On Thursday we will be holding a smaller ceremony to show people the power of coming together.

Fight Back Friday: We will have a 'punch wall' where people punch a hole and win a prize. There is also word of purple crush coming into play.

The whole week should be very exciting and get people involved in Relay for Life. Aside from the daily activities, we are hiding easter eggs around campus that anyone can find. They will have candy or a note telling them to collet a prize. On the Sunday before, we will be decorating the campus purple with ribbons, banners, window paint, etc. This is the week to 'go big or go home' in hopes that people get pumped!

Once you choose hope, anything's possible. ~Christopher Reeve