Party4Life Comes to ESU

Greatness Addiction and Lambda Iota Team Up to Raise Funds for Metastatic Breast Cancer Research

By Kathleen Kraemer

Editor-in-Chief

Last Thursday, ESU students on the quad released pink helium filled balloons into the evening sky. The balloon release was part of an event called Party4Life.

Party4Life is an event meant to raise awareness and funds for metastatic breast cancer research.

Lucy Stanovik and the National Foundation for Cancer Research founded The Lucy Fundy and Party4Life.

“Metastatic breast cancer accounts for approximately 40,000 deaths annually in the U.S.,” according to the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network website.

“Over 90% of cancer mortalities are due to cancer that has metastasize,” nfcr.org elaborates.

Metastatic cancer is cancer that spreads from its original location to other parts of the body. In the case of metastatic breast cancer, cancerous cells typically spread from the breast to the bones, brain, liver or lungs.

This metastasis (spread) makes treatment more complicated because there is no longer one central mass of cancerous cells to target.

The mission of The Lucy Fund is “to make metastatic breast cancer chronic, not deadly.”

Fundraising specifically for metastatic cancer is important because, despite the numbers, only five percent of the $6.2 billion allocated to the National Cancer Institute for research is used to focus “on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of cancer metastasis,” according to nfcr.org.

ESU’s Party4Life was organized and hosted by Greatness Addiction in cooperation with Lambda Iota and with help from the ESU Cheer Team.

“Greatness Addiction is an athletic and fitness organization that represents a lifestyle of wanting to achieve excellence,” explained Carrington Beckford a member of the organization.

The group’s primary focus revolves around “hosting events for active individuals through fitness. As well as with affiliate organizations to raise money for specific causes in the community,” continued Beckford.

Greatness Addiction has worked closely with the ESU campus and the local community since its establishment on July 5.

Additionally, Greatness Addiction sponsors ESU’s flag football team.

The Party4Life, held from 5-7 p.m., was an evening of food, fun and prizes including Greatness Addiction merchandise and gift cards donated by local businesses.

For more information on Greatness Addiction, visit facebook.com/Greatnessaddiction. To find out more about Lucy Stanovick and The Lucy Fund, visit nfcr.org/lfabout.

At the end of the evening after the sun set over campus everyone in attendance was given a pink balloon to release into the night’s sky in remembrance of Lucy and anyone else who has died or suffers from cancers.

Email Kathleen at: kkraemer2@live.esu.edu