The Middletown branch of Miami University is holding a Mardi Gras themed "Fun-raiser" for Relay for Life, complete with masks, beads and king cake.
The fund-raiser, to take place Jan. 29 to Feb. 5, is sponsored by Campus Individuals Volunteering in the Community (CIVIC).
According to Wanita Hatton, president of CIVIC and a Middletown campus physical facilities employee, the organization-made up of faculty, staff and students from the Middletown campus-is the sole sponsor of the event. This means that all monetary donations come out of member's pockets, she said.
"Everything that we do is donated by individual members and all the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society," said Ruth Orth, co-captain of the CIVIC Relay for Life team and a senior program assistant at Miami University Middletown.
She added that the CIVIC Relay for Life team has won awards for outstanding spirit for seven of the past 10 years.
According to Carol Caudill, administrative assistant for student affairs and vice president of CIVIC, the team raised $5,000 last year for Relay for Life.
"It's a blessing, it really is," Caudill said. "Once you get involved you want to be involved. You can tell it's something we really care about."
According to Hatton, CIVIC has had a team in Relay for Life for the past 10 years. This year the 18-hour long event will take place June 7-8 at the Middletown high school track.
Hatton added that volunteers are what make the event happen.
"(The volunteers) take lunch hours, personal time and vacation time to run tables and buy supplies," she said.
For Hatton in particular, the event has taken on a new meaning in the past few months, as her husband was diagnosed with cancer in December 2007.
"It makes the relay just a little more special," she said. "I never dreamed Relay for Life would help me. Ten years ago lymphoma was a death sentence-now it's treatable and curable."
It was Hatton who came up with the idea for a Mardi Gras theme after a trip to the southern part of the U.S.
"I thought to myself, we don't do anything for Mardi Gras," Hatton said. "We should do something."
Mardi Gras is the final day of Carnival, which begins 12 days after Christmas and ends the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.
The Relay for Life team is selling traditional Mardi Gras beads, coins and masks as well as king cakes. Participants also receive raffle tickets for every dollar spent, which can be entered to win Mardi Gras king or queen, and the winners will be announced on Mardi Gras.
According to the official king cake Web site, the cakes are a Carnival tradition with origins in France. A small object like a baby figurine is baked into the cake and it is considered good fortune to find the figurine, and in Middletown, will even be awarded with a crown.
The weeklong fund-raiser will culminate Feb. 5 in Middletown.
"We are going to have a parade on Fat Tuesday at noon," Caudill said. "Our campus accordion player, Steve Conley, will lead the parade."
According to Orth, CIVIC also leads several other events throughout the year, including a concert April 12 that will feature all campus-related talent. Again, all proceeds from this as well will go to the American Cancer Society.
Cake and Mardi Gras accouterments can be purchased in Johnston Hall on the Middletown campus.
