Relay For Life Plans Jan. 12 Meeting

An organizing meeting will be held on Monday, January 12, at 6:30 pm, at the Newtown Middle School cafeteria for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life that is planned for next June 12 at Newtown High School.

Committee chairpersons and team captains are expected to attend. Anyone who would like to volunteer to help plan for the event or to form a team is welcome to attend.

Relay for Life, an overnight team event, represents the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated, explained local co-chair Dawn Escoda. It offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer.

Volunteers are needed now to help with the planning of this fundraising event, one of the American Cancer Society’s largest annual fundraisers. Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature event that takes place in 2,900 towns across the country.

In the relay, teams walk in shifts, keeping at least one member on the track, in a relay fashion throughout the night. Anyone can take part by forming a team, volunteering, sitting on the planning committee, joining in the survivors’ lap, or by purchasing a luminaria in honor of someone who has survived cancer or in memory of someone.

Although participants are carrying their own personal experiences and stories to the Relay for Life, the symbolism of the event — from the survivors’ walk that kicks off the relay to the bright glow of the luminaria lining the track for those who have lost their lives to cancer — promises to galvanize the different reasons people have for walking.

Anyone who has questions about how to help can contact Ms Escoda at 270-7541 or co-chair Ivette Gerics at 426-3589.