“We would like the community to take part in it, and embrace it as their own”, said Gert Hawthorne, a longtime Relay for Life volunteer. Walkers also decorated paper bag luminaries to be released later in the evening as memorials to those who lost battles with cancer, as well as those now fighting. Now it’s her job to help organize two of the three relays in Lancaster County.
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“The Relay for Life movement is the world’s largest fundraising event to fight every cancer in every community”, Blais said in the release.
“It gives them hope that some day we’ll find a cure for it”, she said.
Crawford says people hear “relay” and think race, but the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event is a casual walk, with the idea of teams keeping someone on the track throughout the whole event.
Survivor speakers Daneen Ford and Glen Marcum approached the podium as the Relay for Life Heroes of Hope.
“We are trying to reach our goal of $25,000, which is what we raised previous year”, Lundin said. People in the stands cheer and everyone cries, she says.
Marilyn Wetmore, honorary chairwoman for this year’s Lewis County Relay For Life, said that earlier this year she underwent treatments for breast cancer in Florida when the opportunity presented itself, allowing her to avoid making trips from Lewis County to Syracuse during the winter. In honor of a family member who died of cancer, they skipped the traditional first dance following the ceremony.
Channing Peebles, with the American Cancer Society, was on hand to participate in the event.
“I want as much money to go to my local area as possible”, said Sharkey. They often hold signs showing how many years they’ve been cancer-free.
Chas Bibleheimer, a third-grader, walked in honor of his classmate, Gavin Howe, who recently finished treatment for leukemia.
The Rev. Denise Gundersen of Prince of Peace Church in Cortland and St. John Church in Champion, said the relay is very personal for her because her son is undergoing chemotherapy and many church congregation members are cancer survivors.
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Howe is recovering, and he joined the relay by getting a piggy-back ride from his mother, Cindy Howe, of Elizabethtown. Marcum read an emotional poem called “I Have Cancer, but Cancer Doesn’t Have Me”. “It can be scary but it helps them feel like they’re contributing to something they can’t control”.
