By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Festival of Relays, presented by Upstate Cancer Center, returns to the New York State Fairgrounds on June 12.

The American Cancer Society fundraiser was formed in 2018 when three of the area’s longest-standing Relay for Life groups — Baldwinsville, Liverpool and Solvay-Geddes-Westvale — decided to combine their efforts. Instead of the all-night walkathon for which Relay for Life is known, Festival of Relays brings fundraising, family and friends together in one evening event.

Festival of Relays will include food trucks, entertainment, kids’ activities, plow pull, survivor/caregiver walk, and a luminaria ceremony to honor those who have passed away.

“Last year it raised nearly $100,000,” said Barb Romeu, senior manager of community development for the ACS. “We’re on track to do much better.”

Like Relay for Life, the centerpiece of Festival of Relays will be team fundraising. The campaign held a kickoff event March 5 at the Empire Room at the Fairgrounds, and teams are already taking shape.

“There was a lot of energy in the room last night and there seems to be a lot of excitement,” Romeu said of the event.

For many teams, Relay for Life had become a tradition. That’s true for Anna Campanino and MaryAnn McCormick, cousins who started their family team “M.A.R.E.” with Baldwinsville Relay for Life about a decade ago.

Campanino encouraged McCormick to join her in the 2009 Baldwinsville Relay for Life event after McCormick had been diagnosed with breast cancer the year before.

“I had just finished treatment. I did the survivors’ walk. My hair hadn’t grown back yet,” McCormick told Eagle Newspapers in 2015. “It was the beginning of a beautiful thing.”

Over the years, the cousins have gathered an army of family members and friends for their team. At press time, “M.A.R.E.” was already leading other CNY teams, having raised $5,740.

Today, Campanino is co-chair of the Festival of Relays event. She is also part of the ACS Cancer Action Network, which travels to Albany to lobby for legislation such as the proposed ban on flavored vape products and raising the age requirement to purchase tobacco.

“Everything that I’m doing, I want to be able to to say I was part of making those funds coming in and letting people know about the ACS. I just want to make a difference,” Campanino said. “I’m a big advocate of thinking that every dollar counts, every penny counts.”

According to Romeu, there has been a 29% drop in the cancer mortality rate since 1991 thanks to research funded by the ACS.

“The ACS has made great strides,” she said.

In addition to research, the ACS offers many services for people diagnosed with cancer, including a 24-hour support hotline, free wigs and prostheses, support groups and accommodations for people traveling to treatment thanks to local hotel partners. The “Road to Recovery” program provides free rides to treatment if a patient does not have transportation. “Reach to Recovery” connects recently diagnosed breast cancer patients with a peer survivor.

“That’s particularly helpful to someone who has been recently diagnosed [to hear] from somebody on the other side of it,” Romeu said. “People frequently say they feel alone so this gives them someone to talk to.”

Campanino said most people’s lives have been touched by cancer in some way.

“You’re always going to run into somebody that’s been affected by cancer. It’s a terrible disease,” she said. “That’s why we make a big deal for our survivors at our events. We do a big meal for them, we do a lap for them, we recognize them.”