Successful Fundraising Kick Off Ceremony Marks Start of Relay For Life

Relay for life is an American Cancer Society signature fundraiser. Relay is coordinated and staffed by volunteers from more than 20 countries and 5,200 communities who believe that it is time to combat cancer by giving their time and effort. Relay For Life is a fundraising event where team members take turns walking around a designated path or a track.
An event can last between 6 to 24 hours in length. A member of the team must be on the track at all times to signify that cancer never sleeps. As cancer patients never stop because they are tired, neither will members of the team stop. Each team sets up a campsite at the event and continues to collect donations for food, goods, activities and games. The money collected will count for the overall fundraising goal.
By participating in a Relay For Life event, a volunteer will be vital part of the American Cancer Society. The person will become a member of an organization of 2.5 million cancer survivors, advocates, volunteers, caregivers, patients and researchers who are doing everything within their power to save lives from cancer as published in an article by the American Cancer Society.
In South Deerfield, more than 50 residents of Franklin County sitting inside the Yankee Candle annex marked the start of the Relay For Life with a kick off ceremony which will be held on June 9 and 10 according to Andrew Paterno, American Cancer Society Staff Partner. According to him, this is the time to get more teams signed up for the event.
Betty Johnson and her cousin Janice Barnes of the Funny Farmers Relay team participated in Relay For Life for 21 years. Barnes said that the kickoff ceremony is a great time to hear about the amount that volunteers raised and just plain caring. Members of the Relay For Life of Franklin County’s planning committee and Relay participants shared their reasons for joining the fundraising event as reported by The Recorder.