Photo courtesy of Julia Parsons
The Chi Omega sorority beat their goal of raising $2000 for Hillsdale's second-annual Relay for Life. The chapter was inspired by member Lauren Hemming's struggle with cancer.
The Hillsdale Chi Omega sorority has been involved with national philanthropies like the Make-a-Wish Foundation for years, but last April would affect the chapter in a way they never could have imagined, when member Lauren Hemming was diagnosed with cancer.
In response, the sorority raised more than $2,400 for the second annual Hillsdale College Relay for Life, sponsored by the American Cancer Society on Sept. 25 of this year. Determined to meet their goal amount of $2,000, the sorority went above and beyond, inspired by Hemming's story.
"You realize that it could happen to anyone, someone that special, that young and that full of life," junior Katherine Zuiker, Relay for Life organizer and Chi Omega member, said of Hemming.
Hemming was only 20 years old when she was diagnosed with a tumor in her right lung in April of this year. The cancer came with little warning, but she responded with courage and optimism.
After her diagnosis, she almost immediately cut her hair and donated it to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to young children who have medical hair loss, Zuiker said.
Hemming then began to receive treatment for the tumor. In the midst of traveling back and forth to the Mayo Clinic, a medical research foundation in Rochester, Minn., the cancer began to respond to the chemotherapy.
But while she was receiving treatment, she was diagnosed again: this time the cancer was in her brain.
Then, while undergoing treatment for brain cancer, her chest tumor grew, something neither Lauren nor her doctors wanted to hear.
She began to receive her third kind of chemotherapy and has only now begun to see progress. Recently, she has been discussing with doctors the use of her own stem cells as a possible cure for her disease.
In addition to raising money for the American Cancer Society, friends of Hemming and others involved with the charity have been inspired to raise cancer awareness on campus.
In total, the Relay for Life raised approximately $7,000 - hundreds of dollars beyond their goal amount, in honor of Hemming.
"As soon as I told her how much money we had raised, she teared up right away. She was really excited," said Hemming's best friend and Chi Omega sister, senior Julia Parsons.
Hemming would have been a senior this year, and although new members of Chi Omega and others on campus may not know her personally, Zuiker said she was pleased by the participation and support of people on campus.
"It's amazing, all of her comrades have been encouraging, even the ones she has never met," Lauren's mother, Dawn Hemming, said.
Recently, Hemming has made incredible progress. Her cancer has been reduced by 50 percent, making it possible to consider a stem cell transplant, an option that was not previously available to her. Now, based on her progress, even the doctors are saying to believe in miracles.
"Lauren has come a long way," senior Amy Stone, another friend of Hemmings, said.
Hemming will be returning to her home in Traverse City, Mich., for two weeks in November before they pursue the stem cell transplant. Hemming will be home just in time to celebrate her 21 st birthday.
"Her attitude has been 100 percent in these last few weeks, there has been so much support," Stone said. "It really has been because of everyone's prayers and thoughts."