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Relay for Life kickoff set for Feb. 20
Elmore County's annual cancer awareness fundraiser officially begins next week during a kickoff event in Glenns Ferry.
The "Luau for Life" party begins at 6:57 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Glenns Ferry Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall at 132 East 5th Street.
For the second time in the event's history, Glenns Ferry will host the annual cancer awareness Relay For Life event in Elmore County. Held at the outdoor track at Glenns Ferry High School, the all-night relay is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. June 14 and will continue until 7 a.m. the following morning.
Throughout the night, at least one member from each relay team will remain on the track. Proceeds from the event benefit the American Cancer Society.
Next week's kickoff venue will feature information tables manned by relay volunteers, who will highlight American Cancer Society and Relay For Life programs and objectives.
According to Gena Byrd, online chair for the local Relay for Life effort, the kickoff party will also feature a "pack the track" contest to encourage teams to register by Feb. 25. To date, 23 people representing six teams across Elmore County have already signed up for this year's relay. Together, they've helped raise nearly $2,000 for cancer research and treatment.
"We are asking all current registered participants to ask one more person to join them in the fight against cancer," said Relay for Life founder Dr. Gordy Klatt.
"If each of us gives just one more person the opportunity to fight back, we can bring 25,000 more relayers to the track" during events across the United States.
"Relayers raise the money, the money funds research (and) research kills cancer," Klatt said.
In a way, those that participate in the yearly relay effort are helping to kill cancer, he added.
"If each of us raises at least $100, we will have contributed more than $5 million in the fight against cancer," the doctor said.
This year's Relay for Life coincides with the American Cancer Society's 100th anniversary.
This year's Relay for Life will also feature games and other activities with many of this year's teams expected to also bring food to sell. Money raised through the relay helps fund a variety of cancer society projects, including helping patients pay for travel expenses to medical and treatment appointments in addition to cancer research and education.
Each team member is required to pay a $100 entry fee. They must raise another $100 in donations if they want to receive a rising star T-shirt commemorating this year's event. Teams also raise money through bake sales and other events.
However, those that register before or during next week's kickoff will receive a $50 discount. Registered individuals that attend the kickoff rally receive an additional $25 discount with an additional $25 savings if they have a friend sign up at the rally.
In 2011, teams from the southern Idaho region, which extends from Ontario, Ore., to the Idaho and Wyoming border, collected more than $1.6 million in donations. A majority of those funds went to Idaho State University and the University of Idaho for cancer-related research, according to Jan Landon, who organized last year's event.
Among those expected to attend this year' relay include Cassandra Hollenbeck, who previously served as the publicity chair for the county's Relay For Life chapter.
Hollenbeck, who lost her brother, Tommy Fain, to cancer in five years ago, has remained an active member with the local Relay for Life event since 2008. That same year, her mother, Donna Fain, also joined the effort.
Following her brother's death, Hollenbeck and her mother created their own team, Tommy's Invincibles --a group that participated in the relay the past two years. The team walked in memory of Fain's son as well as her brother-in-law, Ted Sweeney, who was also stricken by the disease.
"It helps keep his (Tommy's) memory alive; not that I could ever forget him," Fain said. "It gives me hope that parents won't have to live a year like we had to live with Tommy."
To register for this year's Relay For Life, go online to www.ElmoreRelay.org.
People can sign up for an existing team or create one of their own. Participants can continue to register up to the day of the relay, Landon said.