Over 2,000 students know her name, but nothing else about her. Hiliary Humble e-mails students periodically throughout the school year about Relay for Life, becoming a faceless name, but there is a person behind those Relay reminders and cancer facts.

At the age of 28, Humble says she has found her calling as the senior director of college events in the Southern Tier for the American Cancer Society.

‘I work to establish Colleges Against Cancer chapters on each campus ‘ a mini ACS on campus,’ Humble said, ‘and help the students bring cancer education, awareness and advocacy to campus each semester.’

Humble also works with students from area colleges like Cornell University, Ithaca College and Elmira College, to plan and produce a successful Relay for Life ‘ an annual walk designed to raise money for local ACS chapters to distribute to patient services.

Growing up in Ithaca, Humble didn’t get involved with ACS until after college.

She started her secondary education at Cazenovia College and later transferred to Ithaca College, graduating with a bachelor’s in marketing and management.

She moved to Philadelphia where she worked in a marketing department for a travel management corporation.

Three years later, she returned to Ithaca and took a job with ACS.

Before her time with ACS, Humble lost her maternal grandmother to pancreatic cancer. More people she knew were being diagnosed with cancer. And then the disease hit home, again, when her paternal grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer.

‘At the time, I was able to see him through his journey, and just seeing how uncomfortable and what a horrible battle he faced, it made me want to get more and more involved,’ she said. ‘So I started researching the American Cancer Society.’

Humble was in luck. ACS had a job opening that suited her education background, and she was offered the job four days before her grandfather passed away.

‘So to me it’s just very rewarding because it’s where I feel like I should be,’ she said. ‘Not only rewarding because I feel like I’m trying to make a difference for my family members I’ve lost, but I’m spreading hope and awareness and education in hopes that one day this disease will be eliminated.’

Humble has spent her three years with ACS working with students at seven colleges in the Southern Tier. She said working with students and seeing their energy and passion for the cause keeps her going.

Humble’s first Relay for Life in the spring of 2005 also happened to be Binghamton University’s first. Planning was challenging, she said. From spreading the word around campus about Relay to establishing a committee, Humble relied on the students she was working alongside.

Now in its fourth year, BU’s Relay for Life has raised over $250,000 and last year had more than 2,000 students in attendance, becoming the largest student-run event on campus.

Humble said continuing Relay for Life at BU has been great.

‘I still keep in contact with some participants that have graduated and they come back every year just for the Relay,’ she said. ‘To know that college students are naming Relay one of the most rewarding experiences within their four years is just outstanding to me.’

Jenna Sykoff, a senior English major and former Relay for Life co-chair, said working with Humble has been a ‘wonderful experience.’

‘Planning an event like Relay For Life requires a tremendous amount of time and dedication from students,’ Sykoff said. ‘Hiliary’s passion and energy really motivates students to care about the success of Relay.’

Sykoff said Humble’s teaching on how to handle motivating a large student group was key to the success of Relay for Life.