Whether they are walking in celebration of a parent, family member, friend, or honoring their own battle with cancer, someone is constantly walking or running during the 12 hours that make up Relay for Life.

Relay for Life is an event sponsored by the American Cancer Society, wherein volunteers participate in a walk to raise funding for cancer treatment programs in the hopes of finding a cure.

One of the newest organizations to become a fixture at St. Edward’s University is Colleges Against Cancer, a group aiming to recruit students to spread awareness and action for the fight against the deadly disease.

Sophomore co-presidents Matthew Perez and Paloma Reinoso are leading the student revolution for a cure and the promotion for a healthier lifestyle among students.

Both students admit the hardship they face in an environment in which a significant number of students smoke, and where it is cheaper to get a Snickers bar instead of a granola bar. Reinoso and Perez vow to keep judgment out their organization and to welcome any students that want to help the cause.

“I’m not gonna stand by a podium and tell people not to smoke,” Perez said. “I won’t exclude or condemn anyone, but I ask everyone to be respectful to Relay for Life.”

Though CAC organizations across America promote other aspects of cancer education, the St. Edward’s branch is focusing their first year on raising money for cancer awareness. For now, the CAC is concentrating most of their resources and energy into creating teams and participating in Relay for Life.

At their first meeting, the officers showed a PowerPoint that detailed the different aspects of Relay for Life in order to draw more people to join. Through various other incentives and visuals, Reinoso and Perez are slowly gaining participants and visibility.

“It’s hard to explain [Relay for Life] if you haven’t been before,” Reinoso said. “It’s something you have to go through and see to understand, so it’s been hard trying to convince people to join.”

The main mission of Relay for Life is “a celebration of the lives of people who have battled cancer, remembering loved ones lost, and fighting back against the disease,” according to the American Cancer Society. Through relay events like the Survivors Lap, the Luminaria Ceremony and the Fight Back Ceremony, friends and families of cancer survivors can come together and celebrate those affected directly or indirectly by cancer.

Having attended their hometown’s Relay for Life, both Reinoso and Perez felt St. Edward’s deserved a chance to honor cancer awareness. The easiest way to bring Relay for Life to the university, they concluded, was to start Colleges Against Cancer.

“We didn’t bring it here to preach,” Perez said. “We brought it here to do a good deed.”

Starting in late June, Perez and Reinoso decided to bring Relay for Life through the CAC to St. Edward’s because they believed the school would genuinely aid the cause. Both say they were shocked to learn St. Edward’s did not already have an established team for Relay for Life. Influenced by the organization’s dependence on community, the co-presidents felt the close atmosphere of St. Edward’s would enable the organization to flourish.

“Cancer affects everyone, and you can’t not know someone affected directly or indirectly,” Reinoso said. “It seemed natural to have [an organization] here.”

The St. Edward’s CAC is still in infancy and is trying to establish itself as fixture in university life. Though the co-presidents are aware of the stigma they could face among students as a group that is preaching against smoking, both officers are incredibly impassioned and committed to the development of the organization. The students are determined to resist being pigeon-holed and want St. Edward’s to become a part of the national fight against cancer.

“It is a joy to be around people who are trying to make a difference,” Reinoso said. “Relay for Life is culmination of a year’s work and awareness; it’s a celebration of hard of work.”

Recently, the organization has distributed pink lemonade in an effort to bring awareness to fight against breast cancer. Perez and Reinoso have planned for St. Edward’s Relay for Life on April 15, and both hope that by then there will be a substantial number of students and other participants to take the symbolic walk.

Though participants do not have to attend St. Edwards to take part in the event, the co-presidents want a substantial foundation for the fight against cancer to be at the university.

“I love that Relay for Life is really dependent on the community,” Perez said. “Someone randomly walking down South Congress can walk [in the fight against cancer], which is great.”