While the original Relay For Life event had been suspended because of COVID-19, students at RIT are going virtual to fight cancer.

For the first time ever, RIT is broadcasting its Relay For Life on YouYube and making it a five-day event.

"We didn't want to stop the fight just because we couldn't have a physical event," said Hannah Kuntz, one of the chairs of the event

She hopes that the community will be just as engaged as it if were in-person.

"Cancer doesn't sleep so neither will we, so for one night we will walk around the track symbolizing the fight that the cancer patient is going through," said Kuntz.

The other event chair, Daniel Rouleau, launched the virtual Relay For Life.

He was followed by a performance by RIT Encore, an acapella group, then a video highlighting the work of the American Cancer Society and a message from Nancy Munson, the wife of RIT's president and student government president Anika Aftab.

"This is our opportunity to come together, to share these stories, to find ways to grow together, and move forward and to one day live in a world where there won't be one single loss," said Aftab.

The goal is to expand on the $58,000 that RIT has already raised for cancer research leading up to this week.

"I know it's a super challenging time for everyone, whether that be mentally, socially, financially and while our event is super focused on fundraising, we also want to provide a support community for people who need it right now." said Kuntz.

The live feeds will continue every this week at 6pm on RIT's Colleges Against Cancer YouTube page.

SUNY Geneseo will host its virtual Relay For Life on Facebook Saturday at 7 p.m.