“If cancer was standing right in front of you, what would you say to it?”
Heather Corrigan, event chair of Sudbury's Relay for Life, wants to know.
The Canadian Cancer Society hosts the Relay for Life each year in communities across the country.
This year's event, Sudbury's 12th annual, is focused on fighting back against cancer. At the kick-off for the event, held Feb. 10 at Culpeppers Restaurant, Corrigan literally fought the disease. Or at least a punching bag representing it.
The kick-off gave team captains a chance to register their team for the event, which will be held June 3 at Cambrian College, and learn more about this year's campaign.
Corrigan said the theme of this year's relay is colours.
“Colours bring life,” she said. “It's joyful and energizing.”
Corrigan and several other volunteers were wearing multiple cancer awareness ribbons in a rainbow of shades across their shirts.
She said pink is often associated with breast cancer, but there are colours representing other forms of the disease, too.
Cécile Archambault was one of the captains who signed her team up at the launch.
She said she's been participating in Relay for Life for nine years, and has been a team captain for three. She took over leading her husband's team after he passed away from cancer.
A cancer survivor herself, Archambault said she likes participating in the campaign because cancer is a disease that affects everyone.
“One hundred per cent of our members have been touched by cancer,” she said. “It's a universal disease.”
In the past, her team has raised between $10,000 and $15,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. The year her husband passed away, the team raised $24,000, because he requested donations to the team in lieu of flowers at his funeral.
“That's hard to beat,” Archambault said.
For more information about Relay for Life, or to register a team, phone the Canadian Cancer Society at 705-670-1234, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.cancer.ca.
Facts about the Relay for Life
- Sudbury's 12th annual Relay starts June 3 at 7 p.m. and finishes June 4 at 7 a.m.
- Each relay begins with a Survivor's Victory Lap. Close to 400 survivors circled Cambrian College's track to kick-off the 2010 event.
- Luminaries are candles that are placed in special bags which bear the names of cancer survivors and loved ones who have lost their battle with cancer. These luminaries are lit during a special ceremony at dusk during the Relay.
- More than 1,400 participants took part in the 2010 Relay for Life.
- Sudbury raised $356,680 for the Canadian Cancer Society in 2010.
- Relay for Life events across Canada raised a total of $16,066,813 in 2010.
