When you think about the American Cancer Society, you might not think of people walking around a track.
But maybe you should.
The society’s biggest fundraiser, Relay for Life, involves teams and individuals camping out overnight and taking turns walking or running around a track or path. This weekend, Liverpool’s Relay will take place from 5 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday at Liverpool High School. The event has already raised more than $35,000, with more money pouring in all the time, according to Relay coordinator Andrea Aquino.
“Relay for Life is the signature event of the American Cancer Society,” Aquino said. “It’s not only a fundraiser to support the society’s lifesaving mission to help people stay well, get well, to find cures and to fight back, but it’s also about a community uniting to fight cancer.”
Liverpool has been fighting cancer through Relay for 21 years; it was the first community in Onondaga County to introduce a Relay event.
“There is a lot of pride in the community about this event, so we always want to see it grow,” Aquino said.
And grow it has — so much so that it can no longer be contained at its former home, Longbranch Park. Last year’s event, one of more than 6,000 worldwide, attracted more than 500 people.
“We moved the location of the event to Liverpool High School as we were starting to outgrow our old location,” Aquino said. “We are all sad to leave Longbranch Park, as it provided a beautifully unique and intimate Relay environment for us. But having more people wanting to be a part of the event is a great thing for the Relay, so we wanted to move to a new location to accommodate those numbers.”
The move to the high school also provides a more centralized location in the Liverpool community.
“[The move will allow us to] can attract new Relayers and community members to drive by and drop into the event to check it out,” Aquino said. “Relay for Life is all about a community taking up the fight against cancer, so we want to make sure all in the community are made aware that this event is going on and all are welcome.”
The event kicks off Friday night with opening ceremonies at 7 p.m., including a special Survivors and Caregivers Lap to honor those who have fought cancer. Other honorary laps include a Lifesavers Lap for healthcare providers, a Heroes Lap to honor active and retired servicemen and women and public servants and a youth lap to honor the youngest Relayers fighting for a future without cancer. The latter two are new additions this year. At 9:30 p.m. is the stirring luminary display and ceremony to honor survivors and honor those who lost their battles. The event closes with a ceremony at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, June 6. All the while, a member of each team continues to walk the track to raise money and awareness in the fight against cancer. Live entertainment is provided throughout the night. While 227 people are already signed up, advance registration isn’t required; you can just show up Friday and walk.
The theme for this year’s event is “A Night at the Movies: Lights, Camera, Relay!” which Aquino said the teams have fully embraced.
“Our teams have really rallied around the theme, choosing fun and creative themes for their teams like: Pirates of the CUREibbean, a take on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ If I Only Had a Hope, a take on ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and The Avengers, as not all heroes wear capes, just to name a few,” she said. “Also, having this as our theme allows us to make our cancer survivors the movie stars of our event. We plan to roll out the red carpet for them at their survivor dinner which begins at 5:30 p.m. before opening ceremonies.”
Indeed, while the main goal of Relay is to raise money for cancer research, its ultimate aim is to honor those who have fought the disease and to try to prevent others from suffering.
“Unfortunately in our world today, almost everyone has been touched by cancer in some way,” Aquino said. “Relay for Life is here to bring people from all walks of life together for a common cause — to fight cancer, to celebrate all our survivors, and to remember loved ones we have lost to the disease. It is a powerful movement of individuals banding together for a common cause to take up the fight against cancer. It gives us hope when we walk the track together, hear inspiration stories from our survivors and caregivers, celebrate and honor our cancer survivors and together fight back against the disease.”
For more information, visit relayforlife.org/liverpoolny or contact Aquino at [email protected] or 433-5627.
