On Friday, April 25, 2014 Academy of the Holy Names Teen Leadership Council participated in Relay for Life at Jefferson High School. Relay is an all-night event lasting from 6pm to 9am.

Relay for Life fundraisers are held all over the world every year. There are multiple relays held in the Tampa area alone. It is the biggest fundraising organization in the world. The purpose of Relay is to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The goal of this year was to raise enough money for the American Cancer Society to launch their third research party.

Every year, Relay picks a different theme, and this year it was carnival. Throughout the event, each team must have a member walking the track at all times. Also, to raise additional money the teams sell special items. This year, many TLC girls opted to pay a clown to chase around their friends. Junior Isabella Gonzalez describes it as “one of the most frightening experiences of my life because nothing scares me more than clowns.”

Another big part of Relay for Life that many look forward to is the luminaries. The luminaries are white bags that are lit up with a candle in remembrance of someone who has fought or lost their life to cancer. Around nine at night an hour of silence is held.

The TLC team was led by Junior Kayla Rodriguez. Kayla has been working for months to prepare for Relay. Kayla is “thrilled with the amount of money raised, the girls exceeded my expectations.” She raised $5,695 and was the top fundraiser out of everyone. Teen Leadership won a trophy for raising $9,605, the most of all thirty one teams. Other top TLC team fundraisers were Maddy Babin, Kendall Perez, and Julia Metzger.

TLC is very thankful for all the support and fundraising they received and they cannot wait to participate in Relay for Life again next year!