May 29, 2012 — The American Cancer Society is saving lives and creating more birthdays by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back. But we need your help!
“Get Your Head in the Game” is the theme for the American Cancer Society’s Annual Relay for Life in Rowan County, which will be held on June 1 at McBrayer Elementary, beginning at 7 p.m.
The event runs for 12 hours and will end with a closing ceremony at 7 a.m. on June 2.
“Relay For Life is a wonderful opportunity for people to fight back against cancer. Cancer has robbed us of so many that we love, and frankly, this just makes me mad,” said Sharon Reynolds, chair of 2012 Morehead/Rowan County Relay for Life.
“People need to have a way to fight back, and raising money to fund promising research is one way to do that. When we’re at a Relay For Life event, we also get the opportunity to honor survivors and to cheer them on as they battle! Seeing them and knowing the struggle that they went through or are going through, really brings home to me why we have to keep working to find a cure,” she said.
This family friendly occasion is open to everyone and the public is encouraged to attend. The public is encouraged to come and enjoy the event, which will include music, games and activities for kids, a silent auction, and a Luminaria ceremony.
Survivor registration begins at 5:30 p.m. with survivor dinner at 6 p.m. Opening ceremonies will be at 7 p.m.
Local teams have been fundraising since early in the spring and Relay is the culmination of those efforts.
--Relay For Life encourages communities to form teams and camp out at an athletic track, park or other gathering area, with the goal of keeping at least one team member on the track or pathway at all times throughout the evening and raise funds to end the disease. The event and the dollars raised from it support the American Cancer Society’s efforts to save lives by helping people stay well, helping people get well, by finding cures and fighting back against cancer. This year, Morehead/Rowan County’s Relay For Life was one of more than 5,000 held across the country.
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing about $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, about 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more or to get help, call any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.
