Relay For LifeFighting Back

Teams Forming Now for First-Ever Community Event

When Rocky Point resident, Therese King lost two brothers to cancer within four months of each other last year, she vowed to avenge their deaths. Mrs. King spent hour upon hour researching the debilitating disease to find out how to personally enlist in the fight against cancer. On the American Cancer Society’s website, www.cancer.org, she discovered the Relay For Life event, an overnight community celebration to honor cancer survivors and loved ones lost to cancer, she decided it would be her weapon of choice.

On the evening of April 4, 2001, the community of Rocky Point showed its support for Therese and her cause, by attending a Relay for Life Kickoff Rally at the Rocky Point Junior/Senior High School. More than a hundred people attended and learned more about this American Cancer Society Signature event through an informational video, survivor stories and literature, which was distributed. Although more than 80 teams signed up to participate, dedicated volunteers are still needed.

Relay For Life is a unique, volunteer-driven, community event that allows participants, who include cancer survivors, families, friends, corporations, civic organizations, schools, churches and concerned community members – to join together in the fight against cancer. Relay For Life is an overnight celebration where individuals and teams will camp out and enjoy live entertainment, as they take turns walking or running around a track “relay” style. At nightfall, participants will light hundreds of luminary candles placed around the track in a touching ceremony to honor cancer survivors and those who have lost their battles with the disease.

The American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in Rocky Point is a 16-hour event. It will be held at the Rocky Point Junior/Senior High School Friday, June 29 through Saturday, June 30, 2001 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m.. To find out how to build a Relay For Life team or for information on other ways you can participate, call 1-800-ACS-2345. Another way to support the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life is to purchase sun cards at any local Waldbaum’s Supermarket for one dollar each. The cards, which are shaped like suns, will be displayed in the store.

The American Cancer Society is the 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. For more information about the American Cancer Society, call 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit its web site at www.cancer.org.