Blue Valley students will spend the night in at Johnson County Community College’s gymnasium March 5, 2015 to raise money for cancer research in their annual participation of Relay For Life (RFL).

RFL is a fundraising event created by the American Cancer Society to inspire participants to take action against cancer. Each person has to raise $100 for cancer research in order to spend the whole night. According to RelayForLife.org, the purpose of staying up all night is that “cancer never sleeps.”

“The best part is probably staying up because everyone eventually gets really loopy,” junior Emily Hanna said. “[Also] knowing what you’re doing is helping people everywhere with cancer.”

RFL has had more and more participants each year. Around 30 percent of BV students participated in it last year. As a school, Blue Valley raised more than $65,000.

The main event is the laps around the track. One person from each team has to be walking the track holding the Spirit Stick at all times, even during the night.

While one team member walks the track, others participate in the activities.

“There’s usually a photo booth [and] a Fifth Wall performance by our school,” Hanna said. “There was a model contest by all the guys. It was funny.”

The idea of the event is for participants to continue raising money even after they’ve turned in their entry fees. Teams can make more money by selling things during the night.

“I appreciated the bake sales,” senior Nick Williams said. “[One] team was doing bets where you pay money to play a game — if you win, you double your money; but if you lose, you have to put more money in. I thought it was cool because it was fun and gave people an incentive to win.”

Sign ups for Relay For Life begin Oct. 9 2014.