Come 5 am this Sunday, hundreds of bleary-eyed people will be packing up booths, overnight supplies, games, and sneakers and rubbing their tired tootsies as they pour out of NYA Sports & Fitness Center at Fairfield Hills. If they look like weary warriors, it is because they are. They are fighting the fight to eradicate cancer.

This weekend marks the 12th year that Newtown has hosted the overnight American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay For Life event to honor local cancer survivors and caregivers, and to commemorate those lives claimed by cancer.

Relay For Life is another one of those annual events - Halloween on Main Street, the Labor Day Parade, and the Holiday Festival, for instance - that draws the community together. To the uninitiated, it seems the Relay would be a somber celebration, but organizers and participants focus on the positive, hoping each physical step around the track is a virtual move forward toward the ultimate goal to find a cure for cancer.

Worldwide, four million people will participate in Relay events in 20 countries this year. Newtown Relay organizers expect upward of 500 people to participate this weekend, and many more to attend the ceremonies and take part in activities. Thirty teams had already registered as of last week, with plans to host fundraising booths and boost morale during the 12 hours of walking, laughing, crying, and cheering that comprise this event.

Critics will point out that the American Cancer Society, like many large charities, trips over its own feet when it comes to dispersing funds to find a cure. There is no denying the good, though, that this organization does. In 2015, $144 million of donations went toward research to improve therapies and seek a cure. The ACS-sponsored Hope Lodges provide free housing for patients and caregivers undergoing treatment away from home. Transportation when needed, services to promote self-image during treatments, and a support program for those diagnosed with breast cancer, as well as educating the public, are ACS programs that make a difficult time a little easier.

In 2015, there were an estimated 1,658,370 new cancer cases diagnosed and 589,430 cancer deaths in the United States. Every year at Relay For Life there are new names on the luminarias honoring loved ones who have lost the cancer fight, new faces of survivors, and new faces of caregivers for the newly diagnosed.

Celebrations this Saturday begin with a luncheon for cancer survivors in the afternoon, followed by cancer survivors leading the first of the all-night laps around the NYA track, at 5 pm. From dunk tanks to dance, from hula-hoop contests to a human checkers tournament - and, of course, walkers circling the track all night long - the Relay For Life is a bittersweet mix of memories and memory making, for all ages. Members of the public who are not part of a team are welcome to participate until 11 pm.

Here is a chance to help make a difference. There are still many laps to go before crossing the finish line: a cure for cancer.