By Staff
Melissa Cason
The other night I attended the Relay For Life kickoff held at First Baptist Church.
I have been a committee member for two years now, and our paper has helped sponsor the event since then as well.
Since becoming a member of the committee, Beth Faulkner with the American Cancer Society has been urging me to get a team. I always said we didn't have enough people at the paper to have a team so I'd just have contribute in other ways.
That was until this year. The theme for this year is Relay Land: Tune in for a Cure. The teams are encouraged to dress up as characters from old sitcoms and decorate their campsites to match their theme.
There are some really good ideas being bounced around by the teams. Gilligan's Island, I Love Lucy, and Happy Days are just a few themes that have already been claimed.
I was walking around minding my own business when Jennifer Swinney came up to me with an idea.
She said I could get two sidekicks and we could have our team, and our theme could be Charlie's Angels.
This idea sounded cool to me so I decided to pick up a team packet and get a team together for this year's event.
I went home and talked my husband, Jimmy, into being our Charlie, and now all I need are two sidekicks and my tiny team will be complete. Or at least, I'll have enough to have a Charlie's Angels theme.
I talked to Beth and got the information on what I need to do in order to raise money. So here I go. I am officially looking for team members to help me with this endeavor, and I have to raise at least $100.
I'm not sure what kind of fundraisers I'll do, but rest assured they will be small yet original.
I hope that some of our readers will feel compelled to join Relay for Life this year. If you are not affiliated with a team, you can join mine by calling me here at the paper.
I know some of you are thinking that times are difficult, and now is not the time to get involved. But, it really is. It's never a good time for cancer to strike. It strikes when times are good and when times are bad. Actually, it's because of the tough economic times that the Relay is so important this year.
The money raised at Relay not only funds cancer research, but it also helps the ACS provide assistance to cancer patients. Services like Hope Lodge, Road to Recovery, Look Good Feel Better and Man-to-Man are provided to patients free of charge.
Cancer is a disease that can strike any man, woman or child at any time. Nobody is immune.
It touches everyone in some way whether you had your own diagnosis or a family member or friend is fighting the disease.
While I encourage everyone to become involved with Relay, I especially encourage the survivors to get involved. You know more than anyone the damage cancer can cause.
There is a special dinner held at Relay to celebrate your survivorship. There is also a special lap at the start of Relay just for you because you are a survivor.
I know many of you out there are still fighting the disease, but you are a survivor. To be clear, a survivor is someone who has had a cancer diagnosis and is still living. If you are in treatment, you are a survivor. If you had cancer 20 years ago, but have not had a relapse, you are a survivor.
Something I find encouraging is that the survivor's lap gets bigger each year, whichis awesome.
That means more and more people are beating the disease, and that needs to be celebrated.
I am so proud that I am getting more involved with Relay this year
I may not raise much more than the $100 required, but I know that $100 will go towards helping fund the battle of this disease that affects so many.