Kentland Rotary Relay for Life June 25, 2012

Gaye Hoffman Ford, Co-Chair shared the success of the Jasper Newton County Relay for Life held in May at South Newton High School with Kentland Rotary members and their regular noon luncheon meeting at the Steven Ryan Community Center on Monday June 25^th.  Relay for Life is an overnight event that celebrates, remembers, and fights back in the ongoing battle with cancer. The event includes sponsors and teams and focuses on events during the relay.  This year’s event raised over $40,000 for the support in the fight against cancer.  Worldwide over 3.5 billion has been raised and is second only to the American government in support.  There were 45 cancer survivors, 560 luminaries, and 256 participants at the May 19^th and 20^th event held on the track at South Newton.   The key to success for Relay for Life are the volunteers and the sponsors that organize and support the overnight event.  The program begins with a survivors lap and is followed by the relay and closes with a fight back ceremony.   Teams of walkers find sponsors and walk during the night and are able to view luminaries placed around the track in recognition of friends or family members whose lives have been touched by cancer.   The funds raised are used locally to connect to a cancer information specialist, peer support, lodging, transportation, and financial and insurance questions support to those persons or family members that are dealing with cancer.  There were seven new teams this year and Relay for Life is looking for more participants next year.  Jay Brinkman was the host for the day and also delivered the invocation for the morning Relay for Life event.