Why ZTA Relays and Our Tribute to the Del Castillo Family

Written by: Lily Hunt

March 2020

What is Relay?

"The Relay for Life movement is the American Cancer Society's signature fundraiser dedicated to helping communities attack cancer. Relay wants to remember those we've lost, help those affected today, and give us a home team advantage against cancer". -- http://relayforlife.org/

ZTA's Philanthropy

Zeta Tau Alpha's nation-wide Philanthropy is breast cancer education and awareness. Relay for Life's whole mission is to support both communities and individuals affected by all forms of cancer. As Relay for Life shares the same values and goals as Zeta Tau Alpha's philanthropy, our mission is to encourage as many people as possible to sign up and support Relay for Life. We hope by spreading this awareness we can raise as much money as possible to help support families during their difficult times with cancer.

Sign Up and Join the ZTA Relay Team Here:

Although Relay is not physically being held on campus due to the unforeseen events occurring during this time there's still a way for you to get involved! Sign up and use social media platforms such as Facebook and instagram to ask family and friends for donations to help families battle cancer! Sign up at: http://vtrelay.org/joinzetataualpha

Words from our Sisters

Katie Casamassina (ZTA President & Relay Head Director)

“I got involved with Relay my freshman year of high school. Both of my grandmother’s battled cancer and it seemed like the right thing to do. I ended up falling in love with all the American Cancer Society has to offer. I ultimately decided to attend VT because of our reputation with Relay. Being director is one of the most rewarding experiences I have been a part of. Every day I get to work with dedicated individuals who work tirelessly for the fight against cancer. I feel very grateful to get to play a role.”

Grace Williams (Relay Marketing Committee)

“Relay is amazing because you can see how much of an impact cancer has had on individuals from across the nation. With our effort we can help end cancer as a whole. We’ve been planning and helping with the event since the beginning of the school year. What makes the night of Relay fun is all the activities everyone gets to do. There is entertainment, booths all throughout the drill field, food vendors, and so much more! The event is all night long and crazy fun with everone’s friends around. I became involved after hearing Carli Sicher, Megan Byrnes, and Katie Casamassina speak about it chapter after chapter the year I joined Zeta. My main reason for joining the relay committee in September was because I had realized what a huge impact cancer has on everyone, and I wanted to help.”

“This past Christmas break, I got the devastating news that my grandpa has been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. I was in shock. It was such hard news to hear, but it reassured my purpose in Relay. This year I am relaying for my papa <3 . People should join Relay because it is SO much fun and everyone always has such great stories from the night of and Virginia Tech’s Relay for Life is the LARGEST COLLGIATE Relay in the nation! Additionally, people should join Relay for the great memories they will have with their friends and everyone should join Relay to help find a cure! Every penny donated is a step closer to finding a cure and everyone who has donated and/or joined Relay has helped with the effort to find a cure!”

“I really want Zeta to show out this year! Many of the girls in Zeta have put so much effort into trying to make Relay the best it has ever been! We as Zetas should be proud to support Relay especially since our philanthropy falls so closely with Relay as the American Cancer Society is one of our sponsors! So, LET’S GO ZETA!”

Carli Sicher (Relay Entertainment Committee)

“I got involved in Relay for Life when I was a freshman at Tech. The spring before I graduated high school my grandmother who I was extremely close with got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My entire family’s life got flipped upside down. Instead of spending my last summer at home with my family and my mom, I spent the summer driving my little brother places, working all day, and making my family dinner while my mother spent weeks with my grandma driving her to treatments and dealing with all of her medications and appointments. All of this was happening while I was trying to cherish the last moments with my grandma and my friends before I headed off to VT. At the end of the summer, my grandma decided to stop treatment, as it was making her last days extremely uncomfortable and fogging her brain. At this point, I knew the end was near.”

“Being five hours away from my family that fall made me feel incredibly lonely and incredibly helpless. I had heard of Relay for Life at Gobbler Fest and thought it would be a great way to unite my family and give us some sense of hope. I made a team in her honor called Amy’s Army (her name was Amy). I made Amy’s Army T-shirts and sold them on Facebook and within a few months I had raised over $1000. It was crazy to me to see all these different people who knew my grandma reach out and donate, including one of her childhood best friends. Fighting for this cause made me feel like I was doing something and made my family feel like they were doing something. Come January, my grandma passed away. We were grateful to have one last family wedding with her, one last Thanksgiving with her and one last Christmas with her.”

“When the event occurred in April, my mom came down and we walked the caregiver lap together as well as the remembrance lap in honor of my grandma. We got to see luminaria bags lined around the drill field that were donated in her memory. We got to see her name and picture pop up on the screen when they talked about who our heroes were. And our hearts were given the opportunity to heal through that night. I knew that this was a cause that I always had to support and an event that I always had to be a part of.”

“Since I have joined Relay for Life, I have been given so many more reasons to Relay; from my best friend’s mom to my neighbor at home, to all of my friends and family and everyone who has been affected by cancer. Nothing gets me more excited than the thought of fighting this terrible, terrible disease and I am so grateful to be a part of a campus that supports and shares this passion.”

Meghan Byrnes (Relay Events Executive)

“Relay for Life is an experience like no other. Even if you haven’t been affected by cancer directly, going to one of these events makes you realize how impactful cancer truly is to our lives. Virginia Tech has the largest collegiate Relay for Life in the country for the past 11 years and has raised over $6.25 million for the American Cancer Society. It is such an eye-opening experience and our 12-hour main event at the end of the year is an incredible celebration of the fundraising we’ve made.”

“This year, I am so happy and honored to be a part of the executive committee for Relay for the second year! Despite the impacts COVID-19 has had on public university events at Virginia Tech, I am confident that we will reach our goal of $500,000 this year. I am excited to reach our goal for all the seniors who have poured their hearts and souls into our event this year and for all of those affected by cancer that depend on our fundraising to support them. Even if our actual event is cancelled, cancer doesn’t stop, and neither will we.”

“I personally joined Relay for Life my freshman year of high school and attended a community event with our HS club members in Alexandria, VA. I joined because I had just lost my grandfather to cancer in 8th grade and my other grandfather at the time was battling esophageal cancer. My sophomore year in HS, our school held our very own event for the first time and was my first year on the Executive Committee. The event that year ended up falling on the evening my grandfather passed away. It was really hard having to remake a luminaria from

"In honor of” to “In Memory of”, but it could not have been a better day for it to have happened. My grandfather, Pops, was a big family man, he loved his family more than anything. It was only right that the day he passed his whole family was in town and could honor his memory that night at the first Relay for Life at Woodson HS. That Relay has been my favorite event, because it was truly amazing to have your whole family together and able to celebrate his life in such a meaningful way while having the support of your friends, school, and community. I later became the director for my HS’s event the next two years, and that led me to apply to Virginia Tech, the home of the largest collegiate Relay for Life.”

“My freshman year at Virginia Tech I didn’t join the executive committee because I wanted to be able to experience an event without actually being in charge of it. I attended my first VT Relay for Life event with my new sorority sisters in Zeta. I had joined Zeta because I loved the girls I met, but also because of their shared passion for the American Cancer Society and Breast Cancer Education and Awareness. I was able to become so much closer with girls in my member class as we walked the remembrance ceremony together, honoring our loved ones we had lost to cancer.”

ZTA'S Tribute to the Del Castillo Family

Chris Del Castillo is a Junior who is a best friend of ours in ZTA. His mother passed away this January from Breast Cancer. To make sure we could do anything to help Chris and his family, in October a few women in ZTA decided to run a 5k in honor of Chris’s Mom and family. Sophie Lane, this year’s new member coordinator, was a part of this team and spoke on her experience: “Running for Chris’s mom was a really special experience for me and my friends. We wanted to show our love for him and his family during some of the most difficult times. Chris has always been Zeta’s number one supporter, so we wanted to show him that Zeta supports him back. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to be at the run, so we wanted to make it extra special and go all out for him and his family. I love Chris and I hope that he knows me and all of Zeta will always be there for him!!” – Sophie Lane.