While performing my clinical rotations at the UF Health Cancer Center at Orlando Health, I was able to participate in one of the several Relay for Life events the company contributes to. Orlando Health is growing hospital community in central Florida with 6 hospitals in the area and 4 of which have a cancer center attached to them.
I chose to participate in the South Lake Hospital Facility’s Relay for Life event this year. This facility is located in the Orlando suburb of Clermont, Florida, not a small city but much less of a metropolitan area than the rest of the Relay for Life events sponsored by Orlando Health.
Money raised through Relay for Life events go to the American Cancer Society. From there the American Cancer Society uses these much-needed donations to help fund life-saving cancer research, patient support programs, prevention information and education for patients and caregivers, and detection and treatment programs.
Before the actual Relay Event I helped raise money for our relay team, SLH Heroes, by creating my own Relay for Life donation page. Where I asked friends and family to donate to the cause, in my name, for our group.
Once at the Relay for Life event our tent was set-up on the track and we continued to try and raise more money throughout the night with a candy-bar. Each person could purchase a zip-lock bag for $1 and fill it with as much candy as they could fit in there and all the money went to the American Cancer Society. We were also selling glow-light bracelets, specially made with South Lake Hospital’s name and Relay for Life on them, for one of the laps later in the night that included a glow stick walk.
I spent a portion of my volunteered time at Relay for Life walking laps in honor of and in memory of cancer patients and the other portion selling our goodies at our tent. During the opening ceremony, the speaker noted that part of Relay for Life is to experience the day of a cancer patient through the day and the night, that is why we started at 6pm and ended at midnight, as it gets darker it represents the patient’s state of mind as they go through their cancer experience. Also with all the walking during the relay it helps one to understand the constant fatigue that these cancer patients go through during their course of treatment.
This event was special to me in many ways. I treated a lot of the survivors who participated there and I felt like I was giving a little something back to my community. However, it also helped me to reflect on my own life and its run-ins with cancer. I was able to dedicate a luminaria in memory of my grandfather, Robert Hammesfahr Sr., who died in December 2000 from metastatic lung cancer. I was also able to dedicate a luminaria in honor of my aunt, Martha Reynolds, who is now cancer free after a battle of Non-Hodgkin Gastric B-Cell Lymphoma, and is 1 year post stem cell transplant. So not only did I feel like I was doing something to help out my work organization and my community, I also got to have a little self-gratification that I gave back for those I love too.
Our Team Page: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=81630&pg=team&team_id=2163626
My Donation Page: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY17FL?px=45124213&pg=personal&fr_id=81630
I chose to participate in the South Lake Hospital Facility’s Relay for Life event this year. This facility is located in the Orlando suburb of Clermont, Florida, not a small city but much less of a metropolitan area than the rest of the Relay for Life events sponsored by Orlando Health.
Money raised through Relay for Life events go to the American Cancer Society. From there the American Cancer Society uses these much-needed donations to help fund life-saving cancer research, patient support programs, prevention information and education for patients and caregivers, and detection and treatment programs.
Before the actual Relay Event I helped raise money for our relay team, SLH Heroes, by creating my own Relay for Life donation page. Where I asked friends and family to donate to the cause, in my name, for our group.
Once at the Relay for Life event our tent was set-up on the track and we continued to try and raise more money throughout the night with a candy-bar. Each person could purchase a zip-lock bag for $1 and fill it with as much candy as they could fit in there and all the money went to the American Cancer Society. We were also selling glow-light bracelets, specially made with South Lake Hospital’s name and Relay for Life on them, for one of the laps later in the night that included a glow stick walk.
I spent a portion of my volunteered time at Relay for Life walking laps in honor of and in memory of cancer patients and the other portion selling our goodies at our tent. During the opening ceremony, the speaker noted that part of Relay for Life is to experience the day of a cancer patient through the day and the night, that is why we started at 6pm and ended at midnight, as it gets darker it represents the patient’s state of mind as they go through their cancer experience. Also with all the walking during the relay it helps one to understand the constant fatigue that these cancer patients go through during their course of treatment.
This event was special to me in many ways. I treated a lot of the survivors who participated there and I felt like I was giving a little something back to my community. However, it also helped me to reflect on my own life and its run-ins with cancer. I was able to dedicate a luminaria in memory of my grandfather, Robert Hammesfahr Sr., who died in December 2000 from metastatic lung cancer. I was also able to dedicate a luminaria in honor of my aunt, Martha Reynolds, who is now cancer free after a battle of Non-Hodgkin Gastric B-Cell Lymphoma, and is 1 year post stem cell transplant. So not only did I feel like I was doing something to help out my work organization and my community, I also got to have a little self-gratification that I gave back for those I love too.
Our Team Page: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=81630&pg=team&team_id=2163626
My Donation Page: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY17FL?px=45124213&pg=personal&fr_id=81630