Relay for Life®

ONE day, ONE night, ONE community!

By Leatha Martin

Relay for Life Team Captain

 

By becoming a sponsor or participating as a team, you have the power to continue the American Cancer Society’s progress toward a future where cancer doesn’t take the lives of our friends and family. Here’s how your involvement helps:

Saving Lives
Every dollar you raise makes a difference to people in your community whose lives are touched by cancer.

Helping Those Touched by Cancer
When cancer affects you or someone you love, the American Cancer Society can lessen your fears and provide inspiration through their many programs and services - all free of charge and made possible through donations from local communities.

Empowering People to Fight Back Against Cancer
A cancer survivor’s recovery involves much more than medical treatments – it takes hope to heal. By participating in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, those touched by cancer can feel empowered to fight back against this disease.

So what happens at Relay?
Teams of 8 to 15 members gather with tents and sleeping bags with the goal of keeping one person on the track at all times. Relay For Life brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools, churches… people from all walks of life. Teams seek sponsorship prior to the relay, all with the goal of eliminating cancer.

Relay For Life opens as cancer survivors take the first lap. This emotional time sets the stage for the importance of each participant’s contribution. A festive atmosphere always develops as participants make new friends and spend time with old ones. Highlighting the evening is a Luminaria Ceremony of Hope, held after dark, to honor cancer survivors and to remember loved ones lost to cancer. The luminaria candles line the track, and are left burning throughout the night to remind participants of the incredible importance of their contributions.