Relay for Life

I need your help! I am participating in the ACS Hawaii Corporate Team this year, and I want to raise $250 to help support cancer research and programs for patients. I have created a donation page for those who can give. Please CLICK HERE and give what you can!

This year, our team's theme is "Desperately Seeking a Cure" from the movie "Desperately Seeking Susan". That means that I have to dress up (you ALWAYS have to dress up at Relay!) as Madonna in the 80s. That's right, the big pregnant lady is going to be dressed up like Madonna at a time when she was definitely NOT thinking about covering up her midsection, or any other section of hers, for that matter. Jeff has agreed to dress up like the lead singer from The Cure and act as our fearless leader! (Get it? He's the cure that we're desperately seeking! Hahaha. What a good sport!)

The purpose of Relay for Life is to honor survivors, remember those who have lost their fight, and to raise money so that no one else has to hear the words, "You have cancer." Relay events are held throughout the night, from sundown to sunrise, to symbolize the dark times that many cancer patients and their families go through. The event is planned around a track, on which each team has a representative at all times.

My two favorite parts of the event are the Survivor Lap and the Luminaria ceremony. The Survivor Lap is the first one of the event. As cancer survivors of all ages walk the track, usually beaming from ear to ear, the rest of us get to applaud, scream, and celebrate their magnificent courage and strength! Later in the evening, we remember those we have lost to cancer in the Luminaria Ceremony. White paper bags with the words "In Memory Of..." are set around the track, lit from within by candles, and serve to remind us throughout the night of the urgency of our work to eliminate cancer as a major health problem.

For more information about the American Cancer Society, please go to http://www.cancer.org/ or email me with questions. The American Cancer Society serves all of us by funding more cancer research than any other non-governmental agency and providing top-notch services to cancer patients and their families. If you don't have cancer and you think you aren't affected by it, you can thank the ACS for the ease of getting a mammogram, Pap smear, and colon cancer screening - not to mention the recently discovered HPV vaccine.

Thank you for your support of me, and of the American Cancer Society. Even if you cannot give right now, consider attending a Relay for Life event in your area to find out more. More than anything, make sure that you're taking good care of yourself, getting regular screenings, and increasing your awareness of cancer so that hopefully you will never hear those terrible words.