Relay for Life teams and participants are registering and preparing for the May charity event and held a trivia night at Buffalo Wild Wings on Wednesday.

Fifty-two Northwestern teams comprised of 484 participants have registered for the 12-hour American Cancer Society fundraiser so far, according to the NU Relay for Life website. These teams have raised more than $15,000, which will be donated toward efforts to fight cancer and help patients.

“Our registration continues up to the day of the event,” said Colleen Park, NU Relay for Life events chair. “We get most of our fundraising and registrations in the last week, and that’s partly just because college students procrastinate.”

Last year the event, held annually in the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Norris Aquatics Center, raised a record $137,086.

“I think we have been improving every year; I don’t think we’ve ever gone down in our totals,” said Park, a Medill junior who is a former Daily staffer. “We haven’t been around that long, so we hope to keep improving and beat that this year. We have a positive outlook on our fundraising.”

Michelle Spies, a member of Relay’s recruitment committee, said although the event continues to grow, it faces challenges on a campus with so many philanthropies.

“It’s generally more difficult to recruit people for Relay because people get all worked up with Dance Marathon,” the Communication sophomore said. “Most people come later, and since we don’t have a minimum fundraising requirement, people tend to be more relaxed.”

Spies said because Relay has been at NU for less than a decade, the organizers are the ones who publicize the charity and participation numbers have consistently increased.

“Word of mouth is really helpful for us,” Spies said. “People will say they’ve done Relay and it was a great experience and then others want to do it too.”

Participants for the May 4 through May 5 event sign up in teams