One student group at Binghamton University is spreading holiday cheer beyond campus and into the cancer wing of a local hospital.
Binghamton University’s chapter of Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) will be hosting the activity, which will be decorating the cancer ward of Lourdes Hospital for the holidays, according to Candice Geller, the group’s president.
The group tabled in the New University Union yesterday, and plans to do so again tomorrow, offering students the chance to make paper chains. Once completed, the chains will be strung together and hung up around the ward.
It doesn’t cost any money to make a chain, Geller said, but donations are encouraged.
“It’s an event for a really good cause,” she said. “We don’t make a profit at all, and everything goes to charity.”
Geller, a sophomore in the School of Management, participated in Relay for Life last year and stepped into her current position when the previous president graduated.
“The whole club has been very helpful,” she said.
Relay for Life co-chair Meaghan Trainor said the group originally wanted to sing carols in the hospital, but decided that decorating the ward would be more appropriate.
“Our main purpose is to brighten up the hospital,” she said. Trainor, a junior majoring in political science, has been involved with CAC since her freshman year.
The holiday event is one of many the organization puts together. Trainor said CAC puts together at least one event every month to increase cancer awareness.
“The day before [Thanksgiving] break we went to one of the local elementary schools and talked to them about the dangers of smoking,” Geller said.
However, the group’s biggest and most anticipated event of the year is Relay for Life. According to Trainor, everything CAC does is meant to promote the fundraising event.
Relay for Life is a 24-hour event promoting awareness of the disease. During the Relay, volunteers in teams walk around the track of the Events Center all night and raise money. All proceeds go toward cancer research.
“We are always supposed to get the word out for Relay for Life,” Trainor said.
The holiday activity is CAC’s last fundraiser for the semester.
“We hope to raise money and bring some kind of happiness to the hospital,” Trainor said.