Seton Hall's Colleges Against Cancer will hold their Relay for Life Kickoff event, Battles Against Cancer, on Nov. 12 from 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. in the Pirate's Cove. The event will be free of charge.
Battles Against Cancer is a Battle of the Bands event that will feature performances from three bands.
Quimby Mountain Band and Only Living Boy hail from Hackettstown, NJ and Freshman Sunday will come from Vernon, NJ to compete.
Battle Against Cancer attendees will vote for their favorite bands by donating money into a box with the band's name. The band with the most donations at the end of the night wins. All the money collected goes directly to Relay for Life.
This is the first year that Colleges Against Cancer will host this particular kickoff event for Relay for Life.
"We wanted to do something different this year," said junior and Colleges Against Cancer's Relay for Life Chair, Alyssa Hebel.
Hebel said Colleges Against Cancer usually holds a similar kickoff event in the spring, but this year they wanted to start raising awareness earlier.
"We figured we would bring something new and refreshing to Seton Hall as well as giving the bands a chance to get their names out there to a different group of people who maybe have never had the chance to hear them before," Hebel said.
Elizabeth Bakes, assistant dean of External Affairs at the Whitehead School and advisor to Colleges Against Cancer said she feels like students are always looking for more music on campus."We're hoping to get more students involved in Relay by having an event that appeals to a larger audience," Bakes said.
In addition to the performances by the bands, Battles Against Cancer will feature speakers between sets.
"We want people to have fun but we also want to educate them along the way," Hebel said.
Students will have the opportunity to sign up their Relay Team for Relay for Life during Battles Against Cancer.
Relay for Life will take place in April but Quinn stressed the importance of early fundraising efforts.
"It's a long process getting everyone to sign up and getting people to raise enough money for the event so we need to start a long time before it," she said.
All proceeds from Relay for Life and Battles Against Cancer will go to the American Cancer Society.
"I think that everyone has been touched by cancer in some way," Bakes said. "The American Cancer Society has been making great progress in research and treatment for cancer and it's a very important cause."
In addition to fundraising events for Relay for Life, Colleges Against Cancer also believes in the importance of advocacy and cancer awareness among students.
Alyana Alfaro can be reached at alyana.alfaro@student.shu.edu.
