“Twenty-five
years of HOPE.” Twenty-five years of research. Twenty-five years of fighting
back. Twenty-five years of making a difference in the fight against cancer.
This is the prestigious history of The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life
event. What started as one man’s 24-hour journey around a track in Tacoma, Washington,
raising $27,000, has blossomed into a global event held in over 19 countries
and over 5,000 communities across the United States, raising over three
billion dollars. In 2008, more than 3.5 million people took
part in Relay events across the US
– that means 1 in every 100 Americans is a Relay participant. That is an
amazing statistic – and you can become a statistic too. Kicking off in May and
continuing through out the month of June, local communities will host their own
Relay for Life event. Take this opportunity to join in the fight against
cancer.
The American Cancer Society continues to keep their
mission in the spotlight. In 2002, American Cancer Society Relay For Life hosted Celebration on
the Hill™, “a grassroots event celebrating cancer survivorship and empowering
people to advocate for laws that will help fight back against cancer” in
Washington, D.C. In 2006, they hosted their second Celebration on the
Hill™ event, during which they erected the world’s largest temporary monument,
The Relay for Life Wall of Hope, bearing more than one million signatures.
Relay
For Life 2009 presented by the American Cancer Society and WBKR. Come out and
join WBKR on May 15th, 2009 at CollegeViewMiddle
School! Cancer never sleeps and neither will we!
Closer
to home, Relay for Life and ABC television teamed up for a five-day-long Relay
in Spencer County, Ind., in 2006, as part of an episode of the show Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition. Shawna Farina of St. Meinrad, Ind.,
an active Relay For Life participant, was the recipient of the home
makeover.
Each
Relay for Life event aides the American Cancer Society in its mission of “
helping people stay well, by preventing cancer or detecting it early; get well,
by being in their corner through every step of their cancer experience; by
finding cures, through groundbreaking research and treatment discoveries; and
by fighting back, through influencing public policy.” Each and every one of
knows someone who has been affected by a form of cancer. Take this opportunity
to honor them and make a difference in the lives of cancer patients and
their families by contributing to this extremely worthy cause.
Please visit www.relayforlife.org or contact the American Cancer
Society’s local office at 270-683-0778 to learn more about this incredible
organization.
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“Twenty-five
years of HOPE.” Twenty-five years of research. Twenty-five years of fighting
back. Twenty-five years of making a difference in the fight against cancer.
This is the prestigious history of The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life
event. What started as one man’s 24-hour journey around a track in 
