By Sarah Kuper
As a high school senior with a golf scholarship to St. Mary’s University, it would seem Nick Weldon could rest on his laurels until graduation.
But instead, Weldon is hard at work making calls, delivering fliers, organizing entertainment and spreading awareness about John Carroll High School’s Relay for Life on April 15.
Weldon is a leader in school in many facets: student council, school ambassador, Spanish club, golf team and basketball team. But he said it is Relay for Life that has all his attention this time of year.
Weldon co-founded John Carroll’s Relay for Life club as a sophomore. Since then he has helped grow the event, generating excitement among students and the greater John Carroll family.
This year, Weldon is giving John Carroll’s Relay for Life a new feel.
Known this year as “Relay Fest,” the event will have all the staples of a typical American Cancer Society Relay for Life, but Weldon and his team are framing it as a music festival.
Taking a cue from the pop culture phenomenon of destination music festivals such as Bonnaroo or SXSW, Weldon has recruited local bands to perform throughout the evening along with John Carroll’s choir and student bands.
Weldon reached out to Seeds Coffee Company for suggestions on local entertainment and he has recruited local food vendors to serve a crawfish boil supper.
Special musical numbers will be played during the luminaria ceremony, in which participants light candles in honor of someone who is battling cancer or who has died as a result of the disease.
Weldon said he has a personal connection with cancer, but his involvement in Relay for Life has made him see even more clearly how it affects his community.
“When I was in the first grade my mom had breast cancer. She’s OK now, but it didn’t really hit me until I got older and realized how bad it could have been. So now I’m more aware through working on Relay for Life,” he said.
In the days leading up to Relay Fest, Weldon is driving around town putting information up on church bulletin boards.
“I’m going around to all the churches in the diocese. We want the whole John Carroll family involved,” he said.
Weldon said he knows that there are only so many things a high schooler can do to try to cure cancer, but he believes that by showing the community their commitment, they can initiate change.
“When you have young people getting behind something, it makes others take a second look, because if you see a bunch of 17 and 18 year olds getting behind one thing, you are going to think, ‘Why am I not involved in something like this?'” he said.
In addition to live music, food and the honorary laps around the track, Weldon is hoping to get a Birmingham-area cancer physician to speak about the latest developments in the fight to find a cure.
Organizers have a $20,000 goal for the event.
Weldon’s goal is to keep up the momentum he has helped create during his high school career and equip others to keep the event growing in years to come.
To register a team or make a donation to the John Carroll Relay for Life, visit relayforlife.org/johncarroll.