Booz Allen's National Relay for Life Team: Still in the Running
Firm enters second year supporting the world's largest fundraiser.
The American Cancer Society's (ACS) Relay for Life is the largest nonprofit fundraising event in the world—even though many people have never heard of it. And Booz Allen Hamilton is one of only 17 corporations this year whose employees are dedicating the time, effort, and resources needed to achieve National Team status.
The ACS may take a low-key approach to publicizing its signature fundraising activity, but today, its popularity is greater than ever. Last year, 12,000 volunteers comprised the elite National Teams, a program that involves businesses in promoting cancer education, prevention, and treatment. In 2004, Booz Allen and the other National Team corporations collectively sponsored 800 local teams and raised almost $3 million for ACS. Booz Allen's National Team contributed $124,000 towards that sum.
That's a substantial amount, but the Relay for Life also involves thousands of individuals and groups throughout the country. All efforts together raised a total of $306 million for ACS in 2004—and they're projected to raise $345 million in 2005.
Relays are unique overnight events. Teams comprised of survivors, friends, family, co-workers, and caregivers camp out at a local school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a path or track throughout the Relay, some of which last up to 24 hours.
Activities must comply with certain standards to be regarded as an ACS Relay:
- The Relay must extend overnight and be at least 12 hours long
At least one person from each team should be running or walking on the track or trail at all times
There must be a luminary ceremony with special lighted candles to honor survivors and memorialize family and friends lost to cancer
"For Many People, It's a Passion"
Each National Team adheres to standards as well: Company volunteers must recruit at least 50 teams of 8 to 15 members to participate in a Relay in two or more states, and administrate their company's fundraising activities. This year, 35 of Booz Allen's nationwide offices will participate in Relays from Rome, New York, to San Antonio, Texas, and dozens of locations in between. An average of 600 staff members join Relays each year.
Since 2003, Booz Allen's Hampton Roads office, located in Norfolk, Virginia, has participated in one of the largest and fastest-growing Relays in the nation. In Hampton Roads' first Relay, 12 participants raised $1,500. Associate Margarite Zettervall became Relay team captain in 2004 and set a new fundraising goal of $6,000. The final figure, however, was almost three times higher: Thirty people participated and raised $17,500. But it didn't stop there: In 2005, the Hampton Roads team consisted of 40 people and raised $19,200.
The local ACS office asked Zettervall to start a new Relay in 2006. Booz Allen's participants and their families and friends who joined Relays in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake will relocate to a Norfolk site next year.
Two Volunteers, Two Perspectives
In Booz Allen's Herndon, Virginia, office, Associate Jim Radmore is a cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2003. In 2004, he volunteered as team captain. "I was in awe at how many people were involved in the Relay who were not survivors themselves, but knew at least one survivor," he said.
Radmore organized a team again in 2005 and stayed for the entire Relay. He walked most of the early morning hours-although, as he says, "that may not be the correct term... my speed was somewhere between a crawl and a walk. I just enjoyed the sounds and sights, and met fantastic and positive people along the way. As my legs got tired, I recalled that this was nothing compared to how tired the treatments had made me, and that there are people who are a lot worse off than I was, fighting their battles.
"I continued to walk until I just could not walk anymore. So I sat down for awhile, then got back up and walked some more." Giddy with exhaustion, Radmore had mixed emotions at the end of the Relay—happy that he could get some sleep, but sad that the event was over.
Associate Jon Wheeler at the Dayton office has been involved in the Relays for four years, and is the culinary mastermind behind some of the "energy food" that keeps his team going.
"My favorite times during the Relay are the cooking times," he says. "I've prepared desserts such as Black Forest Cake, Caramel Apple Cake, Apple Pan Dowdy, Applesauce Spice Cake, and Green Chile Apple Cobbler in a Dutch oven, outdoors. There's not much cleaning up to do when the folks smell the food cooking!"
The Difference One Person Can Make
Relay for Life was the brainchild of Dr. Gordy Klatt, a surgeon and marathon runner. In 1985, Dr. Klatt raised $27,000 for ACS by walking and running the track of a local university for 24 hours—more than 83 miles.
Soon afterwards, Dr. Klatt created the first 24-hour team relay fundraising event to fight cancer; nineteen teams took part and raised $33,000 for ACS. Twenty years later, 4,400 Relays for Life are being held in the U.S.—and this year, Relays are going international.
Funds are raised through registration fees and a variety of endeavors, including old-fashioned bake sales and car washes. Booz Allen's Annual Chili Cook-Off is one of the most successful Relay fundraising efforts. Some funds are distributed to the ACS home office in Atlanta for cancer research, and some stay in the communities in which they were raised to support local patient outreach and education.
Most participants describe a spirit of camaraderie at Relay events that they've rarely experienced anywhere else. Booz Allen consultant Susan Walker explains, "Most people involved in the program have lost a family member or friend to cancer. It's a very personal cause."
Says Wheeler, "My motive continues to be friends, family, and colleagues who have been stricken by the disease, who have lost the fight, and who are currently fighting it. I believe the emotional and spiritual strength gained by involvement in this activity is effective, and helps me feel like I really can do something."
But Jim Radmore summarizes the experience best: "See you on the track in 2006!"
story posted July 26, 2005
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