Students in pajama pants and slippers gathered on the second floor of The Swamp Restaurant Wednesday night, but no one was sleeping.
The UF Relay for Life committee hosted the pajama party-themed meeting to parallel this year’s theme, “A Relay Big Party.”
“We thought we would do a pajama party to get everyone in the spirit of the theme and get everyone motivated,” said Andrew Ruiz, the event’s chairman.
During the meeting, team captains were instructed how to get donations from companies and motivate members of their team to raise money. Committee members also asked team captains to get cancer survivors involved in the event.
American Cancer Society community representative Brett Hipsley challenged UF students to raise more money through Relay for Life than Florida State University.
Hipsley, a UF alumnus, referenced a UF commercial that featured Gators encouraging each other to succeed in their field. In the ad, one person tells another to “go cure cancer.”
“That’s why they say that in the commercial — because the University of Florida is going to cure cancer,” Hipsley said.
Ruiz hopes each team can raise between $1,000 and $1,500.
