Friday, April 19 was not an ordinary night in the Wise Center. In fact, 8 p.m. that night was just the beginning of a 12-hour fundraising event complete with games and prizes, a midnight buffet, an inflatable obstacle course and much more.
Hosted by Relay for Life, the all-night fundraiser was the first of its kind for the club. President and founder of Allegheny’s Relay for Life chapter Dree Zieszler, ’26, explained that all of the work put into the event was for a bigger cause.
“All of the money and all the proceeds that we get — from donations directly to the website and raffle and anything that we collect — goes directly to the American Cancer Society,” Zieszler said in an interview prior to the event.
Funding, she explained, goes towards cancer research, “hope lodges,” or housing for cancer patients and their families when traveling for treatment and emotional support in programs like ACS’s 24/7 support line.
Last year’s Relay for Life was the first of the club’s and was held at Robertson Athletic Complex. The turnout, though, was limited.
“It didn’t have a great turnout because it was hailing,” Zieszler said. “So this is going to be our first time doing anything of this caliber, spending this much money, having this many people signed up— so it’s really exciting.”
Not only were there more signups and planned events, but the night proved to be a success early on in the evening, as donations had already doubled from the year prior.
“It’s more than I could have asked for already and we’re only an hour into it,” said Secretary of Relay for Life Emma Cartney, ’26.
Fundraising came through in several ways. A table with fair-like games sat in the lobby of the Wise Center, where attendees could pay to pick out small rubber ducks from a kiddy pool, each with a number that corresponded to prizes. On the blue courts, a basket raffle featured prizes of Squishmallows and handmade blankets, a box of merchandise from Indigo Boutique and Botanica and a milk crate with Grounds for Change coffee and “coffee bucks,” which can be used to purchase coffee at GFC. Attendees could purchase tickets for the raffle along with washers and beads on a string— something Alexis Pleskovitch, ’23, explained is a tradition of Relay for Life.
“People can buy a washer with beads on, and every time they make a lap they get to put another bead on it,” Pleskovitch said. “It’s — to my understanding — a Relay tradition, so you bring it back every year.”
Beyond the raffle tables, the blue courts were lined with luminaria bags memorializing family members and sharing sentiments like “screw cancer.” Beginning at a balloon arch, individuals or members of pre-registered teams walked the paper bag-lined blue courts throughout the night.
“The point of a team is to attend the event together and kind of the ideal idea is to have someone walking the track at all times, kind of to support the idea that ‘cancer never stops,” Zieszler said.
Caroline Maye, ’26, was one of the individuals walking the court in the early hours of the event, and chose to bring along a book to read as she walked. Maye explained that she, like Zieszler, is a resident adviser, and came by to support the club and the cause.
“It’s a good cause to support, and I figured, might as well get out and do something good,” Maye said of the event.
Also in attendance was Associate Professor of Global Health Studies Becky Dawson, ’00.
Dawson explained that she was in attendance “100% to support Dree who organized all of this, because she’s my advisee and this is a super cool event, but also for a really good cause.”
“I did train for triathlons pre- coming to Allegheny to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my grandmother,” Dawson added.
In the end, the club raised just over $2,400 to be donated to the American Cancer Society.