Tears, celebration, hope at Walk for Life

Tears, celebration, and hope brought hundreds together Friday night for Relay For Life, the American Cancer Society's nationwide signature fundraising event, held in Bedford County at the agricultural center.

Opening ceremonies began at 6 p.m., with an emotional survivor lap walked by those who have won the battle against cancer. This was followed by a caregiver lap, to honor family members struggling through the disease with loved ones and also to remember those who've lost the fight.

Standing together

"My mom died last April," said a tearful Natalie Richardson, originally from Chicago, who walked the lap with other family members who came in from Chicago to support her.

Relay teams walked all night long, until 6 a.m., to represent the long road of treatment cancer fighters have to endure.

"It's wonderful to see our community come together to fight back against cancer," said Samantha Chamblee, Bedford County's Relay for Life co-chair, who, along with her sister and fellow co-chair, Wendy Stacy, lost her mother to cancer a few years ago. "Those who are fighting will be supported and those who lost the battle will be remembered ... We walk tonight so that someday, no one in Bedford County will here those dreaded words, 'you have cancer.'"

Donations rise

Friday night's relay, which is Bedford County's top fundraiser, drew in about $18,300 from donations and profits from the various vendors and booths set up by the 15 teams participating.

Although there were fewer teams participating this year, the $18,300 is up from the approximate $13,000 raised last year.

"It went very, very well," said Stacy this morning. "The numbers are up from last year and we couldn't be more pleased."

Overall, the county has raised about $85,000 so far for its Relay for Life campaign, which ends in late August. The goal is to raise more than $100,000, which the county turned over to the ACS last year.

The total amount comes from direct proceeds from the event, from monies raised by the participating teams, and from other fundraisers, such as the Hee Haw & Howdy, which brought in about $13,000, and the Bob Parks Realty golf tournament, which raised about $2,500.

The biggest portion of the total amount turned over comes from the teams that participate in Relay for Life, which last year, raised $450 million last year, nationally.

Helping reach this year's strong totals were hundreds of folks, including cancer survivors, and their friends and family members, walking in support of the survivors or memory of lost loved ones.

Survivors walk

Lynne Lusk, of Coffee County, was among the survivors.

"I am a skin cancer survivor and I came here to support my dad (Kenneth Warren) who is a five-year lung cancer survivor," Lusk said.

Jennifer Jarrell, who walked on the Bob Parks Realty "Roaring 20s" team, participated for her second time.

"It was wonderful last year," said Jarrell, prior to the start of Friday night's event. "There are a lot of emotions here. Someday we'll find a cure."

Vickie Hull, 39, and Yukie McCollum, 36, who are both breast cancer survivors, walked on the Proud Perky's team.

Friday night was Hull's first time participating in Relay for Life. She finished her cancer treatments a few months ago.

"We will stay up all night," Hull said. "It's a whole new experience but it's very, very exciting out here tonight."

Other folks have been participating in Relay for Life for many years, including Mary Jo Reynolds, who walked on the "Raizen $ for a Cure" team.

"I'm a 35-year cancer survivor and I've been doing this since we started it in Bedford County," Reynolds said.

Reynolds was joined by several other women on the Raizen team, including former event chair Judi Burton, who was the top individual fundraiser, bringing in $2,000.

Award winners

Her team also earned recognition for having the best team banner and also for raising the most amount of money ($21,000). Wal-Mart Distribution earned the "best campsite" award and Troy Stacy, of the Bob Parks team, was recognized as being "best in character." The "Pulling for a Cure" team raised the most money Friday night, through its lawn and tractor pull, bringing in about $15,550 to the evening's totals.

After dark, cheers subsided into silence as the Luminary ceremony was held, where candles glowed in honor of the survivors and in memory of those who lost their battle with cancer.

ACS's fight

The ACS is a nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy and service, according to its web site.

This year alone, approximately 556,500 Americans are expected to die from cancer. This is more than 1,500 people per day. More than 1.2 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, and one of every three deaths is from cancer, according to the ACS.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

For more information about how you can join the local fight against cancer, call Wendy Stacy at 224-0888. To learn more about the American Cancer Society, visit www.cancer.org.