Relay for Life may still be a while away for the Comox Valley, but now is the time to sign up a team.
Relay offers a chance to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones who lost their battle with the disease and fight back against it by fundraising for the Canadian Cancer Society.
So far, more than 30 Comox Valley teams have signed up for Relay for Life, according to Monica Dhawan, Vancouver Island Relay for Life co-ordinator.
“So, given that last year there was 65 (teams), we’re well on our way to meeting, if not exceeding, that number,” she says, adding the Comox Valley was the largest Relay on Vancouver Island last year with more than 500 participants, and more than 100 cancer survivors walked the survivor lap.
A whopping $115,000 was raised thanks to last year’s Relay, up $15,000 from the year before. Dhawan points out the earlier teams sign up for Relay, the longer they have to reach their fundraising goals before the event itself. For more information about how to participate, visit www.relaybc.ca.
Held at the Vanier Track in Courtenay, this year’s 24-hour Relay for Life will run from 7 p.m. Saturday, June 7 to 7 a.m. Sunday, June 8.
Dhawan says a theme will be introduced this year, as part of the organizing committee’s efforts to continue making the event more exciting each year.
“It is a nautical theme, so we’re welcoming mermaids and wranglers and all nautical-themed costumes as well as tents,” explains Dhawan. “So, the organizing committee is actually planning the activities around that theme.”
Dhawan says Relay is always looking for volunteers to help the organizing committee and to help on the day of the event. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Monica Dhawan at comoxvalleyrelay@bc.cancer.ca or 250-592-2244.
According to Relay for Life, on Vancouver Island in 2012/13 the Canadian Cancer Society helped pay for 140 individuals’ travel and accommodation during treatment, totalling $91,200; its Victoria-based lodge had more than 1,200 people from B.C. and the Yukon stay at it; and 47 children and youth were able to go to Camp Goodtimes, among other things.
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com
