It’s been a busy month for the ACPHS chapter of Colleges Against Cancer, as the club works to raise awareness about the disease’s many forms and raise funds to support research and treatment.
Just in October, CAC has already coordinated a Bark for Life event celebrating survivors and caregivers with costumed pets; decorated the Student Center atrium in pink for breast cancer awareness; brought together dozens of Panthers to participate in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Washington Park; and hosted a post-walk popcorn-decorating celebration.
Before the month is out, they will also host the Frights, Bites and Fights Against Cancer fundraiser on Halloween. And there’s plenty more planned in the months ahead, leading up to their big event, Relay for Life in April. They also keep an active Instagram page, with infographics that shine light on a particular cancer each month.
Members of the executive board say they’re motivated by an uptick in interest in their activities since Spring 2024. Interest in CAC had diminished during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the group saw a chance to create something from the void, Vice President Chloe Robert said.
“This year, we’ve had a lot of student engagement so we’re definitely on an upward climb,” said Robert, who shared that cancer is prominent in her family.
Personal connections and deep losses have also fueled the group’s desire to draw attention to cancer’s impact. The disease kills 10 million people around the world each year.
Club President Memoona Javed experienced the anxiety of a potential cancer diagnosis when she had a tumor removed from her eye. Thankfully, it turned out to be benign. Leading CAC has aided her own quest to learn more about cancer herself.
Lung cancer was responsible for the deaths of Treasurer Kendall Sparrow’s father and Relay for Life Chair Angelina Reish’s grandfather. Sparrow particularly likes being able to educate others and help dispel the myth that only smokers are vulnerable to that deadliest of cancers.
“If we build awareness on campus, it will help bring awareness to a larger audience too, including our friends and families,” Sparrow said.
And that, the group agreed, is what CAC is all about.