Allison Wright

Service Journal
Service Type: Employer
OU Health Stephenson Cancer puts on a fundraising event called the Outpace Cancer
Race for the past few years. The event consists of a 1-mile fun run, 5k, and 10k for the
community to participate in. There is live music, food trucks, a memorial area for survivors or
lost loved ones, and many more fun activities during the event. I have volunteered for this
event almost every year except for the past 2 years due to the pandemic. Since there was such
a long period where we didn’t participate in group activities, I honestly forgot what it was like
to volunteer for something with people I don’t know. As I mentioned, I used to volunteer for
many events before the pandemic and this service assignment reminded me why I used to love
serving!
During my volunteering session, I was joined with other employees of our cancer center
to handout runner’s packages and t-shirts. I was trained on how to search for the participants
name in the runner’s database, print out stickers for their bib, and hand them their registered t-
shirt size. Once everyone was trained and comfortable with their tasks, we started getting to
know each other. We learned which department we all came from and how long we had been
working here. It was exciting for me to meet these people with different skill sets, yet we all had
the same passion – being a part of the fight against cancer. I loved learning how we are all
interconnected and realizing how sad it was that our departments did not interact like this
more often. We then discussed how I couldn’t attend the event because I was going to Texas to
see Taylor Swift the same day. Turns out one of the ladies was going to the same one! We also
learned everyone’s taste in music and what concerts they have been to. I had a blast connecting
with these ladies on a professional and personal level. Aside from our tasks and talking to the
other volunteers, it was a great experience seeing all the employees come pick up their packet
and hear their stories as to why this event meant so much to them. We have had employees
that used to be patients or have had family come through for treatment here.
It is so easy to go about our daily lives and not remember why we chose this career. It’s
easy to get frustrated with the little details or the unfriendly coworker. I really appreciated the
few hours of volunteering just one floor above my desk that helped me remember why I chose
to work in oncology and why I desired to further my education in it. In addition to volunteering,
I created balloon columns for the event and attached a photo of it below.

Event Link: https://www.outpacecancer.com/#Volunteer