Lorenzo Cavallino sat in a rocking chair at 10:30 a.m. on Lakeside Patio on Wednesday, March 18. He’s not planning on standing up until Friday at 6:30 p.m., by which time he will have rocked in the chair for 56 hours.
Cavallino, a sophomore studying industrial engineering, is a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and this year’s “rocker” for AEPi’s Rockathon fundraiser benefitting the Gift of Life Marrow Registry.
Gift of Life is a non-profit organization that aims to cure blood cancer by facilitating bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplants. Through the organization, someone can have their cheek swabbed and join the registry of donors. Then, they have the possibility of matching with a patient in need.
Jimmy Koch, a senior studying biology and last year’s co-philanthropy chair for AEPi, said that a lot of thought went into which organization they wanted to support, but as soon as he saw that Gift of Life is one of AEPi’s national affiliates, he was “hooked.”
“The reason I’m passionate about blood cancer is because my mom had it twice now. Once when I was a baby and once when I was in sixth grade,” Koch said. “She required STEM cell transplants both times. Because of those transplants she was able to get healthy again and is still with us today.”
Every $60 raised at the Rockathon funds the processing of one of the swab kits. Last year, the event resulted in about 8,000 processes and three matches.
“It’s the best notification I’ve ever received on my phone, truly, is that ‘you have a match’ notification,” Koch said.
At the time of publishing, AEPi has raised more than $43K, about 73% of their $60K goal.
This event is only the second time UM’s chapter of AEPi hosted a Rockathon. Last year, the fraternity had 129 people swab their cheeks to join the registry and raised more than $53,000 over the 55 hours that Christopher Genovese — a senior at the Herbert Business School — spent rocking.
“I would do it again, but I would like to pass it onto a younger guy. A younger fella,” Genovese told The Hurricane at last year’s Rockathon.
Cavallino, as Genovese’s fraternity little, was the natural choice to rock this year.
“I was with [Genovese] probably 30 of the 55 hours last year, so I had a feeling I was going to want to do it,” Cavallino said. “And I’m more than happy.”
The idea for a Rockathon came from the University of Missouri’s AEPi chapter, which had been hosting a Rockathon fundraiser every other year for the last 55 years.
UM’s chapter worked closely with Missouri AEPi as they coordinated last year’s event and learned “what it means to actually have a Rockathon and have a guy on a chair for three days straight.”
The development community engagement coordinator for Gift of Life, Alexander Gonzalez, has also worked closely with UM’s AEPi since the fraternity first presented the idea.
Gonzalez got involved with Gift of Life in 2021 when he was matched with a patient in need.
“I was called as a match to somebody who was battling ALM, which is acute myeloid leukemia, and I ended up donating STEM cells and saved his life,” Gonzalez said. “He is five years post-transplant now, which is a really amazing, amazing feat.”
Gonzalez volunteered with the organization before turning it into his full-time job. When members of AEPi reached out to Gift of Life and suggested a Rockathon, Gonzalez said he thought they were “crazy” at first.
But, the more he spoke with the fraternity, he could see how organized they were and how clear of a goal they had.
“This chapter specifically at the University of Miami really took it to the next level,” Gonzalez said. “They’re out here getting people to swab and join the registry, but you know, they’re also fundraising to help put those kids into the registry.”
The Rockathon not only benefits the community, but it brings the fraternity together and gives all of the brothers a collective mission.
Beckham Boymel, a freshman studying business management and a new member of AEPI, highlighted that he was getting to enjoy time with his fraternity brothers all while working to save lives.
“It was raining, we were still all here having a good time, just supporting Lorenzo, making sure that he knows we’re all here and we’re all part of this together, ” Boymel said. “And then, obviously, trying to raise money for a good cause. Not only that, they’re swabbing people and you have a chance to save a life, so it’s very very important.”
AEPi also involved other campus organizations in the Rockathon and created student incentives in hopes of further uniting UM’s community and raising more money for a good cause.
For instance, Patio Jams moved some of the Rockathon’s couches out of the way and played music to attract more students, and members of Koch’s pre-health organization helped swab cheeks. The fraternity is also hosting a field goal raffle at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 19.
The first student to make the kick wins $1,000 and up to five students may receive the opportunity, since each student selected from the raffle only has one chance before the ball is passed to the next person.
Other members of Greek Life are also incentivized to participate in Rockathon. Each sorority is a team competing to see who can raise the most money, and they are also competing against AEPi itself. The fraternity is divided into six groups — each with a fundraising captain — to see which team could raise the most money.
So far, the money raised this year has totaled to more than 731 swab kits processed. Click here to make a donation to AEPi’s Rockathon.