Fourth-year College and Architecture student Katie Bailey and fourth-year College student Elizabeth Watson became the co-chairs of Relay for Life last year determined to increase the organization's connectedness with different groups on Grounds.
This fall, their idea came to life through the Fight and Flip Homecomings event, which brought Relay for Life together with Pancakes for Parkinson’s.
“One of my favorite things about U.Va. is the ability for multiple groups to come together, even if they have different causes,” Bailey said. “Now with the Fight and Flip event we have combined two of the biggest philanthropy groups on Grounds and have reached that many more people through our joint publicity.”
Both Pancakes for Parkinson’s and Relay for Life are University traditions with a long history of student participation. Pancakes for Parkinson’s, now in its 11th year, began with a University applicant who wrote an admissions essay on “pancakes” as her favorite word and wanted to make an impact with pancakes at the University.
Relay for Life is a national organization, but it has drawn widespread support from the University community in the past 13 years. Cumulatively, the group has raised more than $1 million for the American Cancer Society. Walking a lap at Relay for Life’s major overnight event is even listed as one of the 115 things to do before you graduate.
“Some really great things have come out of [Relay and Pancakes working together] because we got to discuss with [other] co-chairs things that have worked and have not worked for both of our events,” said fourth-year College student Charlie Hill, a co-chair for Pancakes for Parkinson’s.
Both Hill and fourth-year Commerce student Kylie Philbin, the other co-chair of Pancakes for Parkinson’s, hope to collaborate with other student groups in the future.
“[We’ve been] thinking about more partnerships we can have in the future,” Philbin said. “Even though these ideas will probably be past our times, we want to plant the seed for ideas like a philanthropy summit or something that will combine U.Va. philanthropies and make them more effective.”
Homecomings weekend may not have seen a victory on the football field, but Relay for Life and Pancakes for Parkinson’s succeeded in including students and alumni alike in raising money to find cures for Cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
“A lot of smart, dedicated and passionate people come together [for Pancakes],” Hill said. “Our team is cohesive every year. People who maybe don’t know each other can become great friends.”
Since much of the work done by Relay for Life and Pancakes for Parkinson’s is behind the scenes, Saturday’s event allowed both organizations to see the results of the other's hard work.
“My favorite part is seeing it all come together,” Hill said. “It kind of feels exaggerated how much is behind the scenes for a one-day event. From setting up through cleaning up, it’s great because we know that we’ve prepared all year.”
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