Cancer Does Not Sleep, so Why Should We?

Local community, sponsors and cancer survivors recently came together to host a 24-hour Relay For life event hosted by the American Cancer Society to celebrate, honor and help those who have been affected by cancer. Together the event and those involved fundraised close to $50,000, meeting their goal. The funds raised by this event will go towards cancer research, local hospitals, clinics that offer free services and assistance to cancer patience and caregivers, and various other programs that strive to fight cancer within the community. "Relay for Life is American Cancer Society's largest nationwide cancer event. Each event is community based and all organized by volunteers," said Cynthia Vanthul a 12-year cancer survivor who is a regional board member of the American Cancer Society for the greater Los Angeles region. She attended the event to "Remember and Honor" those who lost and won the fight against cancer. First, there was a celebration of the survivors in the morning, then a Luminaria event where they light up bags that were paced around the track and walk a silent lap to honor those who lost the fight against cancer, then the event closed with a reflection of what they learned and a closing statement that asked everybody to keep fighting for cancer outside of this event and in their community. The community had various types of spirit laps as well as many other games and activities to help fundraise, a few including the "Patriotic Lap", "Find a Friend Lap", and "Favorite Sports Team Lap". Nineteen different teams supported the event. The teams were compromised of community members and local sponsors including Walgreens, Food 4 Less, Starbucks, Toyota, and much more. "Each team set a fundraising goal. Fundraising started September 1st and lasts until August 1st," said Sandy Parkhouse who was the Relay for Life Event Chair. Each team set up a tent around the track and sold food, various crafts, and had different games to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Sandy's team set up a fundraising Jail where people could pay $5 to put someone they knew in jail for five minutes and charged $3 for an early release. Event organizers shared that volunteers and sponsors were crucial for this event. Relay for Life events across the nation are primarily "volunteer driven," says Maya Mosher, the Relay for Life Specialist who works for the American Cancer Society. She shared, "everything you see here was made possible by the friends, family members, school groups, religious groups, workplaces, corporations and companies in the community. Local stores and local businesses that are all participating and not only participating as teams but they also give back through sponsorship. A lot of our local businesses donate goods, services and funds to help make this possible." Mosher worked with Sandy Parkhouse and 12 other committee members, who are all volunteers, to help organize this event. Maya said the committee plans year round for the Relay for Life event and they are always looking for new volunteers. Visit www.relayforlife.org/sanbernardinoca if you would like more information about Relay for Life. If you are interested in getting involved with the Relay for life Event as a volunteer, email Maya Mosher at Maya.Mosher@cancer.org or Sandy Parkhouse the event chair at rfisanbernadino@gmail.com.