BG, Stevenson students raise $50,000 so far for Relay

Despite falling short of his goal to raise $110,000 ahead of this weekend's Stevenson/Buffalo Grove Relay For Life, Brandon Hafft is thrilled that he and fellow students so far have collected more than $50,000.

Last year, students raised $100,000 altogether.

"I feel like the numbers are down because of the economy and also because people are procrastinating to donate at the last minute," said the 18-year-old Stevenson graduate who was involved with the event all four years of high school.

Both schools jointly pull together the annual fundraiser for cancer research, held at each school on alternate years.

This year's fundraiser will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday and run through 7 a.m. Sunday on the football field at Stevenson High School, 1 Stevenson Drive off Half Day Road in Lincolnshire.

The $50,000 accounts for money already received, but more will be raised during the Relay.

Hafft said he gauges the event's success by the people volunteering and the amount of effort that went into organizing it, not the dollar amount raised.

"We have put in a lot of time," Hafft said. "I've been working (for) eight months, day-in, day-out thinking about it every day."

Roughly 700 students were involved in the fundraising effort since last August. They organized car washes, benefits at community restaurants, and made personal pleas to their peers to donate.

Visit www.relayforlifebuffalogrove.com.