Eastern’s Colleges Against Cancer RSO will be hosting its first fundraiser of the year by selling T-shirts at the women’s volleyball games this weekend.

Each T-shirt is $12 and Colleges Against Cancer will be at Lantz Arena for the women’s volleyball games at 6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday to promote cancer awareness and to support the women’s volleyball team.

Colleges Against Cancer is teaming up with the coaches on campus to promote cancer awareness and help fundraise for the American Cancer Society.

Along with the T-shirt sales, there will also be a guest speaker following the volleyball game.

Colleges Against Cancer will also be selling luminarias, or paper lanterns, for the luminaria ceremony that will take place with the guest speaker at the conclusion of the games.

According to the Colleges Against Cancer community manager, Alicia Pettyjohn, “We had a personal connection with coach Sam [Wolinski] and they had some instances within their team that were personally affected by cancer, so it meant a lot to them to do this and support the cause and be involved.”

The “Protect Our Panthers” campaign, otherwise known as Relay for Life, is a six-hour fundraising event for the American Cancer Society that takes place in the spring at Eastern.

Colleges Against Cancer has already begun the process of planning and recruiting teams and sponsors to assure that this year’s Relay for Life will be a success.

Relay for Life has been fundraising money for the American Cancer Society for 31 years and Eastern will hold its 10th “Protect Our Panthers” fundraiser this spring.

All of the Eastern community is invited to start registering for “Protect Our Panthers,” and everyone can sign up as either a group or individually.

Registration for “Protect Our Panthers” will begin at the fundraiser this weekend and is available right up to the beginning of the event.

If anyone is interested in joining Colleges Against Cancer, the group meets every other Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Casey Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union to discuss and plan for “Protect Our Panthers” this spring, along with other fundraisers throughout the year.

For additional information about Colleges Against Cancer or “Protect Our Panthers,” check out the Eastern Illinois University’s Colleges Against Cancer Facebook page.

Liz Gomez can be reached at 581-2812 or at ecgomez@eiu.edu.