The American Cancer Society Relay For Life will be held this Friday night, April 9. As “cancer doesn’t sleep,” the overnight relay involves teams of walkers or runners taking turns around a track to raise money for cancer research. Local events are scheduled at Bellarmine University (from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning) and at the University of Louisville (7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.). According to the American Cancer Society, the first Relay took place in 1985. And more than 3.5 million people in 5,000 communities in the United States plus participants in 19 other countries take part each year.
Teams are made up of 10 persons, although individuals or smaller groups may join together via the Relay for Life Web site. The only requirement is a $10 registration/commitment fee per person, and any additional fundraising is optional but greatly appreciated. Participants may be of any age; survivors of cancer are celebrated in the initial “Survivors’ Lap,” while those who have been lost to the disease are remembered after dark in a candlelit ceremony. Finally, participants are invited to commit to making positive changes in their own lives—be it quitting smoking or campaigning for government action against cancer so that others may live longer—in the “Fight Back Ceremony.”
To find out more, register, donate or find a Relay for Life team at Bellarmine or UofL, visit
http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/
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