The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is seeking volunteers in Lowndes County who would like to be part of the planning committee for the 2016 event.
“We have some positions to fill and are looking for people who are willing to make a commitment to attend our monthly committee meetings,” said Lowndes County co-event lead Mott Ellis. “It takes the committee as a whole to work together to ensure the success of our Relay event.”
The first committee meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle Outpatient Pavilion conference center. The meeting begins the planning process for the community’s Relay For Life event, which supports the American Cancer Society (ACS) mission of saving lives by helping people stay well, helping people get well, finding cures and fighting back against the disease.
Team oriented
Relay for Life is a team event. Individuals form teams and set up camp at an athletic track, park or other gathering area, with the goal of keeping at least one team member on the track or pathway at all times throughout the event, except during the luminaria ceremony. Teams do most of their fundraising prior to the event, but teams also hold creative fundraisers at their campsites during Relay.
Relay brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools and faith-based groups from all walks of life, all aimed at celebrating the lives of those who have had cancer, supporting the caregivers, remembering those lost, and fighting back against the disease.
“Relay For Life is all about our community uniting with the American Cancer Society and supporting its efforts to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays,” said Tina Perry, Lowndes County co-event lead. “Volunteers and participants who are willing to give their time and energy to this exciting event are making a commitment to let Lowndes County know that cancer can be defeated. The money we raise does make a difference in the lives of cancer survivors and their loved ones.”
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, it fights for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community.
Lives are saved by preventing cancer or detecting it early, by helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis, by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery, by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. The American Cancer Society is the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3 billion. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer, and countless more who have avoided it, will celebrate birthdays this year.
Get involved
For more information about joining the Lowndes County Relay for Life planning committee, call Ellis at 662-574-1104 or Perry at 662-497-4084. Visit relayforlife.org/lowndesms.
Learn more about the American Cancer Society at cancer.org, or call 1-800-227-2345.
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