The Lantern - Campus
Issue: 10/28/03

Hitting the road to fight cancer
By Adam Crawford

The Road of Life Organization looks to find members to strengthen its cause in the fight against cancer, and some Ohio State students are taking on that role.

The organization, a downtown-based non-profit group, is trying to educate and raise awareness about cancer in Ohio.

Rob Emrich, the creator and founder of Road of Life is a former OSU student. He decided after witnessing family and friends suffering and dying from cancer that he would try to make a difference by creating the organization.

The organization's mission is to start a curriculum for fourth-grade students where teachers and college kids can speak to children about fitness and how they can prevent cancer early on.

"We want to put the idea out of cancer being a preventable disease," Emrich said.  

Road of Life, which was inspired by the cancer-related death of his sister and cousin, has existed for a little over a year.

Emrich found that area schools lacked good cancer prevention programs, and the fourth-grade level of proficiency was the perfect grade for children to learn prevention.

Rob Emrich's little brother, Mike Emrich, a junior in developmental studies, is the founder and president of the OSU chapter.

Mike Emrich, started Road of Life at OSU last spring and has held four meetings this year. He said the group is in the early stages of development and are recruiting members.

He said he would like to engage in the same mission as his brother - to get into the elementary schools and spread cancer awareness.

"Where the student organization comes along is that we're the voice of Ohio State students in the fight against cancer," he said. "We want the students to have a voice. I think that the students have a lot to offer."

The organization held an event called the "Bicentennial Walk," which was a one man walk from Cincinnati to Cleveland to raise awareness for cancer prevention.

The OSU branch has been discussing the idea of a pen-pal system in which elementary students would write other children who are dealing with cancer.

Dave Kresnye, a senior in marketing, is the treasurer of the OSU group and said there are three initiatives: education, fundraising and recruiting.

Kresnye said the role of the group now is trying to get people involved so they can begin helping with the fourth-grade program.

"I'd like to see us with enough people to get comfortable enough to start sending them into classrooms and educating young people," Kresnye said.

The group has received money from OSU and also from a 5K event fundraiser which he said went to cancer prevention.

"Cancer is out there; it surrounds us, it's ever present," he said.

He chose to start the group at OSU because he realized that students have skills that can contribute to the group. He also hopes to see a bright future for Road of Life.

"I would like to see us as a fully functional club. Right now, we're at the very beginning stages," he said. "I would like to see us go on for years and years after I graduate; I'd also like to see other clubs like ours starting up at other schools."

At the meetings, Mike Emrich asked the people who were attending why they were there; he said that nearly 90 percent of them had cancer influence their lives in some way, either through a family member, or a friend.