Lifesavers team raises $20,000, more to come
One hot summer morning, dozens of Windsor and Healdsburg community members poured into Keiser Park to raise money for the American Cancer Society and support research efforts for a cure. As volunteers in turquoise T-shirts, participants wearing tutus and T-shirts with team names and cancer survivors in purple all milled around the park, dance music blared, and teammates cheered each other on.
The town of Windsor hosted their 13th annual Relay for Life on Saturday, July 15. Relay for Life is an event held nation-wide to raise money for the American Cancer Society (ACS). Held at Keiser Park, the 2017 Relay aimed to raise at least $50,000 for the ACS.
This year, the Windsor and Healdsburg communities combined their Relays after holding separate ones for the past few years. As Relay participation has dwindled in the past few years, organizers were hoping combining efforts would increase turnout. In addition to bringing out members of the Healdsburg community, the Healdsburg side of the Relay also included a classic car show.
“The two communities had had combined relays before, so it just made sense,” said ACS staff member and Relay volunteer Carley Gill. “And they’re so close to each other, a lot of people spend time in both towns, so the two committees worked together very nicely.”
Relay for Life lasts 24 hours, and each team is required to have a team member walking or running on a track at all times. The idea for the event was started in 1985, when a colorectal surgeon ran for 24 hours to raise money for cancer research. Since then, Relay for Life has morphed into a nation-wide event, with thousands of communities coming together once a year to support those who have been affected by cancer, celebrate those who have fought, and support the efforts for a cure.
“The main mission is to fight cancer,” said Kenny Dearmore, ACS representative for the Windsor Relay. “Relay is the biggest fundraiser for ACS. It provides most of the funding for all the programs we do.”
One team, the Lifesavers, had already raised $20,000. Team member Jill Sullivan is a three-time cancer survivor and had previously lost two close family members to lung cancer.
“Let’s face it—cancer has affected so many of my family and friends. We hear about it all the time. Fourteen members of Team Lifesavers are cancer survivors,” she said. “When you hear the word ‘cancer,’ your world stops. But Relay is about hope, because even when you’re going through chemo and radiation, you meet other survivors and there’s hope.”
Sullivan, as team captain, was planning on spending all 24 hours awake and manning the Lifesaver’s fundraising tent. Events and games, like the Limbo Lap, Scavenger Hunt, and Line Dancing were offered throughout the night and into Sunday morning.
At 9 p.m. however, the energetic, hopeful mood sobered for the Luminaria ceremony. The candlelit ceremony included a slideshow of cancer survivors, speeches and poems, and a chance for participants to remember the loved ones they lost.
“During the day, Relay is very positive, it’s very uplifting, it’s fun,” said Leslie Warner, head volunteer. “When we do the Luminaria ceremony, it gets very somber and emotional. We make it through the ceremony, but bring your tissues.”
Warner was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, and has been involved with Relay for Life since 2008, when her daughter started Team Leslie. The team, said Warner, would be at the park all night, cheering each other on.
“The people are great, and they keep you focused,” she said. “Let’s have a good time, let’s remember everybody, let’s push forward, but let’s make it so that we don’t have to do this anymore.”
The funds generated by the Relay directly fund several ACS programs. Hope Lodge, one of the ACS’s biggest programs, provides cancer patients nation-wide with free and comfortable lodging while they undergo treatment. Road to Recovery, another major program, connects volunteer drivers to cancer patients unable to drive themselves to treatments. In addition to searching for a cure, ACS is focused on giving cancer patients hope by creating a community to support them.
That sense of community, and of hope, is also present at Relay for Life.
“Whether you’re a survivor or not, we’re all here for the same reason—to raise money for cancer,” said Sullivan. “It’s bringing so many people in our community together.”
One Relay for Life participant, Lorene Romero, carries a picture of her grandmother Fran, who she lost to cancer, while she walks. Romero and Fran have walked in the Windsor Relay every year for the last five years.
“I carry her with me, because she’s the kind of woman I want to be,” said Romero. “It’s an act of love.”
