BYU community joins ‘Five for the Fight’ campaign against Cancer

405
BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe dedicated his donated money to the Five for the Fight campaign against cancer to his mother Esther. (Tom Holmoe/Twitter)

Members of the BYU community are joining a campaign by Provo tech start-up Qualtrics and the Huntsman Cancer Institute to raise funds for cancer research $5 at a time.

BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe and BYU Varsity Club Director Robbie Bosco have joined the campaign. They tweeted their videos, which Qualtrics retweeted, pledging their
support in the fight against cancer for the cause. Members of BYU a cappella group Beyond Measure have also pledged their palms to the cause.

“I think everybody is affected by cancer, whether if you actually have it or you know somebody who has gone through (it), or (if you know) a family that has had a loved one (pass away from cancer),” said Janet Vallem, member of Beyond Measure. “It is definitely something we want to support and get the word out (for).”

Qualtrics launched the “Five for the Fight” campaign on Feb. 17 at the Qualtrics Insight Summit conference in Salt Lake.

BYU varsity club director Robbie Bosco joins the campaign in memory of his brother-in-law Steve. (Robbie Bosco/Twitter)
BYU varsity club director Robbie Bosco joins the campaign in memory of his brother-in-law Steve. (Robbie Bosco/Twitter)

The campaign’s strategy is simple. First, participants write the name of a person or a reason for joining the fight against cancer on the palm of their hands. They then post a picture of it on any social media platform with the hashtag #fiveforthefight. The participants tag five friends and ask them do to the same. The final step is to donate a minimum of $5 through fiveforthefight.com.

“Everyone can share $5,” Vallem said. “When it is a smaller amount of money, it equals more people posting and sharing it because there are more people involved.”

Qualtrics’ head of Global Insights Mike Maughan said all money raised will be donated to advance cancer research.

Qualtrics has been working with the Huntsman Cancer Institute ever since Scott Smith, BYU marketing professor and Qualtrics co-founder, was diagnosed with cancer in 2002. Smith received treatment at the institute, so the Smith family decided Qualtrics would donate to it as a way of giving back.

Although Qualtrics has donated to the Huntsman Institute for years, Maughan said the company still wanted to help by doing something even bigger and more impactful.

Beyond Measure supports Qualtrics "Five for the Fight" campaign. (Natalie Bothwell)
Beyond Measure supports Qualtrics Five for the Fight campaign. (Natalie Bothwell)

“So we decided we wanted to launch a campaign to raise funds, and at Qualtrics we came up with the idea of Five for the Fight,” Maughan said.

Maughan said the goal for the campaign was to remind people of who or what motivates them to join the fight against cancer.

“We wanted to connect with people on a very personal level,” he said. “And then we wanted to invite people to invite others so (the campaign) would be able to spread to lots of different people.”

Beyond Measure recently posted a video detailing the group’s support of Five for the Fight on its Facebook page.

Group member Eric Corpuz said the a cappella group decided to promote Five for the Fight because it helps them follow LDS teachings, which encourage members to support “anything good.”

“We felt like it was a really good cause and wanted to be a part of it,” Corpuz said.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email