Prepping for Relay

On Sunday, Mary O’Keefe and I hosted the first Relay for Life meeting over at Sadler Hall at St. Luke’s of the Mountains. Mary and I are co-chairing this year’s Relay and I was excited to meet the many people who will be participating in the 24-hour event.

For those unfamiliar, let me share what Relay is all about.

Relay for Life is a fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. Here in the foothills, it is held on the field at Clark Magnet High School, this year starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 11 and continuing until 9 a.m. Sunday morning, April 12. There are teams who have signed up to participate for the entire 24 hours, making sure that a representative of their team is walking the field. Each team usually has a pop-up tent where they can greet other walkers, rest and spotlight what cancer fight they are supporting. For example, Mary and I are part of the Prom Plus Club team and we support the fight against breast cancer. Our booth is usually decorated with all kinds of colorful bras. We also bring tents so we can sleep.

Other supporters may come during the 24 hours to walk for a while, to perhaps get support for their fight or the fight a loved one is going through or maybe to celebrate a victory over cancer. For everyone who raises $100, they’ll get a wristband so they can get something to eat (Jean Maluccio is again overseeing the food, a lot of it provided by local restaurants including Wienerschnitzel, Burger King, Sparkletts and Berolina bakery). There is entertainment all day into the night on the main stage. You may see a football game going on at one end of the field or some group playing guitars or getting ready for the moving luminaria ceremony that takes place at 9 o’clock. The local Girl Scouts oversee preparations for the luminaria ceremony.

After luminaria, a movie is shown as everyone settles down for the night.

You might wonder why Relay is 24 hours. Well, cancer never sleeps, right?

Relay is family-friendly which is important because cancer affects entire families, not just the person afflicted. This year, Mary and I are hoping to have speakers on hand to help outline what help is available locally and also have special stations for survivors, caregivers and fighters; our theme is Celebrating the Survivors, Caring for the Caregivers.

Crescenta Valley Weekly is a proud sponsor of Relay and we have approached local businesses to see if they, too, want to sponsor this 24-hour community event. Maybe this is something you or your business wants to consider. Or maybe you’re ready to be a part of a team or you already have a team ready to go. Or perhaps you want to make a donation to show your support. Whatever you want to do, visit www.relayforlife.org or you can call me here at the office at (818) 248-2740 to learn more.

You’ll be reading more about Relay in the coming weeks as we all prepare. I hope you’ll consider being a part of this foothills-wide annual celebration.

  robin goldsworthy