Twenty-seven brothers of the Xi-Beta chapter of the Kappa ‚ Sigma ‚ Fraternity ‚ recently participated in the all-night Relay for Life, benefiting the American Cancer Society.
Traveling ‚ to the Gordon Indoor Track at Harvard University, Xi-Beta’s team was ‚ able ‚ to raise ‚ $2,000 ‚ for cancer research, and logged more than 500 hours ‚ in ‚ service. ‚ Relay for Life is an overnight walk-a-thon. Each team member collected sponsorships and pledged to spend a certain amount of time walking ‚ around ‚ a ‚ track. ‚ At least one person per team was required to be walking at all times.
Team ‚ captain Aaron Gill said he was thrilled with the chapter’s participation, and urged his ‚ fellow brothers to recognize how widespread the reach of cancer can be.
“Sharing in this event with a group of brothers I found to be enlightening. At ‚ one ‚ point in the evening everyone is asked to stand for the different ways they are affected by cancer, and it is always revealing to me just how pervasive this disease is in the lives of so many,” said Gill.
After ‚ the event, American Cancer Society organizers told Xi-Beta that next year’s fundraiser ‚ will ‚ be ‚ held ‚ at ‚ Matthews ‚ Arena on the ‚ campus of Northeastern University. ‚ Organizers ‚ were so impressed with Kappa Sigma’s commitment they are hoping the chapter will volunteer as a major sponsor.
Gill ‚ would ‚ like ‚ to ‚ see ‚ Xi-Beta answer the call because the event is so successful ‚ in aiding ‚ cancer ‚ research. ‚ He also has personal reasons for being ‚ so ‚ involved. ‚ In recent years, members of his own family and close personal friends have been diagnosed with cancer. Three years ago, Gill was approached by a co-worker to participate in Relay for Life. He accepted the challenge only to find out that she was battling breast cancer. That’s when he decided to do more.
“I ‚ will ‚ always ‚ push ‚ Relay for Life to try and give back, because of the impact ‚ that ‚ cancer survivors have had in my life and how influential they have ‚ been to me. All I can hope for is that my efforts will inspire others to do the same,” said Gill.
Kappa Sigma is the largest collegiate fraternity in North America. The Xi-Beta chapter has been awarded as one of the top chapters nationally and is the largest at Northeastern.
Disclosure: Blast editor John M. Guilfoil is a member of Kappa Sigma
Leave a Reply