Cancer doesn’t sleep and neither do we!

George Frey and Bruce Stiver were friends and colleagues at Wright State University. The news that Stiver had prostate cancer prompted Frey to go to the doctor, where he was told he also had prostate cancer.

“Bruce is happy he saved your life, but make it count.”

They are words that have resonated with George Frey ever since he opened the card and read the inscription two years ago.

Frey, the director of Wright State University’s division of professional development and a myriad of other students and staff are preparing for another Relay for Life event on campus beginning Friday, April 15 and ending Staurday, April 16. Each year, the work reminds Frey of his friend and colleague Bruce Stiver.

“One day in the summer of ’08 Bruce came into my office and told me he had prostate cancer, ” recalled Frey.

The news about Stiver, an alumnus and lifelong Wright State employee, prompted Frey to begin his own crack research on the disease.

It turned out Stiver was very sick.  After the sadness washed over Frey, so did a realization.

“I thought if it can happen to him, it can happen to anybody. So I went to the doctor, and guess what? I had prostate cancer,” said Frey.

So began Frey’s personal bout with cancer. Both with his own body, and with his dying friend.

A few months after diagnosis, Frey had surgery and ultimately beat cancer.

“I had chances he did not. He succumbed to the cancer in May 2009,” said Frey.

“It’s not often that somebody can say ‘that guy saved my life,’ but he literally saved my life,” said Frey.

Before Stiver died, Frey got a card from Stiver’s wife and a simple message from her husband: Make it count.

Three years later with a new lease on life, Frey is serving as the faculty adviser for the Wright State student group, Colleges Against Cancer, the organizers for the 2011 Relay for Life.

The group is filled with students like Matthew Janning.

“It’s a personal issue for me to help find a cure and to try and end the struggles,” said Janning, an MBA student and Relay’s accounting and sponsorship chair.

Janning has seen cancer decimate loved ones for far too long.

The event kicks off with the opening ceremonies and an emotional survivor walk for those who have survived their bout with cancer.

“My grandpa died from pancreatic cancer and my grandma died from breast cancer. My best friend had full-blown cancer from birth and died at 20 years old,” said Janning.

Emboldened by his experience with cancer, Janning wants to make sure his last year in a campus organization is spent shepherding the event he cares about most.

“So many are affected every day. To see the look on the face of a child, who doesn’t even know what cancer even means but is affected by it, makes you want to get involved and beat this monster,” said Janning.

The latest numbers from the American Cancer Society (ACS) don’t show the disease getting beaten, but awareness is way up.

The ACS says there are 12 million cancer survivors in the United States and those numbers are climbing. Still, one out of two males and one out of three females will face cancer in their lifetime in the U.S., according to the ACS.

That makes cancer research and cancer awareness tantamount to fighting back.

That’s what Relay for Life is all about.

Many events keep things fun at Relay, including grocery cart races last year and a frozen T-shirt contest this year.

And it’s an all-night social event.

“Basically the event is one humongous party. It’s a bunch of college students getting together for a great cause,” said Janning.

The Relay kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday and doesn’t stop until noon the next day. Groups from all over campus collect pledges to walk the track constantly for 18 hours.

Last year’s Relay raised $18,000. This year, the goal is $25,000.

The event goes rain or shine.

“Last year, in really crummy weather, with high winds and even a thunderstorm, at any given time there were still 300-plus people walking,” said Frey.

Day or night, teams keep the relay going by walking at all hours, for 18 straight hours.

With multiple bands on the schedule, tons of food and wacky contests—one involving stuffing your mouth full of marshmallows and red cream soda to the tune of The Police’s Roxanne—another a race between teams to break T-shirts out of ice blocks and put them on—is sure to satisfy late night cravings for slap-happiness.

Whether late at night, at sunrise or at dusk, all are welcome to attend this year’s Relay for Life and repeat a creed that will be shouted hundreds of times:

Cancer doesn’t sleep and neither do we!

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO PARTICIPATE OR DONATE PLEASE VISIT RELAYFORLIFE.ORG/WSU OR CONTACT GEORGE FREY AT 775-3362.