Colleen Hoffman, a junior family science and government and politics major, leads a Relay for Life team in honor of her brother Peter, who died at age 24 from tongue and throat cancer.
Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story misstated Colleen Hoffman’s year and major.
For many who participated in Relay for Life this weekend, the opportunity to raise money for cancer research and support those who have battled the disease was inspirational. For others, like senior government and politics major Colleen Hoffman, it was personal.
Hosted by the American Cancer Society, Relay For Life of University of Maryland took place this weekend from April 17 to 18. With 197 teams comprised of 1,757 individuals, students and community members have raised more than $129,000 — an amount placing the university among the Top 10 online fundraising colleges and universities nationwide.
Hoffman, who participated in the relay for her third year in a row, was the captain of the Blue Barracudas, a team she created after she lost her older brother, Peter, to tongue and throat cancer in March 2009. This year she raised about $1,000 in his memory.
“Last year I did the same thing — the Blue Barracudas Team — because my brother really liked Legends of the Hidden Temple when he was young — kinda when he was old, too,” she said. “So we did it again this year because it was kind of a fun thing to do and it has a reason behind it.”
Peter, who was 24 years old and a recent graduate of George Washington University, was diagnosed with, and began treatment for, cancer while in London during August 2008. He died eight months later.
“It’s one of those things where you are like always kind of looking for an answer while it’s happening and after it is happening,” Hoffman said. “Why did this happen to him? What did he do? In his case there is just not an answer. He never smoked, he never did anything like that.”
Hoffman said Relay For Life is always a nice way to celebrate her brother’s life, and her friends rallied around her for the event.
“I’m participating in Relay For Life because I want to support the cause — I want to support Colleen,” said senior environmental science and technology major Santiago Muñoz, a Blue Barracudas team member who added he too has had family members who suffered from cancer.
“It is always important to remember someone’s legacy,” added senior government and politics major Katelynn Eckert, who participated on the Purple Parrots team.
Hoffman said she and her friends hosted a party at their place on Friday night to raise even more money for the relay.
“I think it is good to have an event like this on a college campus because … there’s no drinking involved, there’s no anything else involved. It’s just purely doing something good,” Hoffman said.
At the end of the day, Hoffman said, she just wanted her brother to know she was doing something he would have been proud of. At the relay, she carried a candle in his honor.
“Pete was like a role model to me. It’s weird for me to not have somebody to look out for me in that way that an older brother does,” she said. “In this circumstance, it would be nice to show him I am doing something good.”
Junior family science and government and politics major and Relay For Life event organizer Colleen Meehan said it is important for students who are dealing with cancer in any way to do so in his or her own way.
“It is a very personal experience. Let it be personal,” Meehan said.
Meehan said while her immediate family is fortunate enough to not have any experience with the disease, she knows that many students have family members who have suffered from cancer.
Hoffman said she has found that to be the case through her own personal experiences.
“By the time you are in college and whatnot, most people have had a situation in which they have been affected by cancer, either a friend or a family member or a friend of a friend,” she said.
For many of these students, Meehan said, Relay For Life allows for a release and a chance to bond with other students in similar situations. She added college students can create a strong presence at the event.
“Relay For Life holds great importance both on the collegiate and community level,” Meehan said. “As college students, we have the most energy and time to participate in various events for different causes. Thousands of students live within just a few miles of College Park and that makes our school, as well as other universities, a strong and powerful force.”
bauer@umdbk.com
