AMHERST – Every year at Relay for Life, Daren White looks through the crowd to see the new faces of cancer while thinking of those who lost their battle against the disease.
White, who teaches physical education at Spring Street Academy in Amherst, has been a dedicated participant in Relay for Life since the first walk at the Robb Centennial Complex some 15 years ago.
This year’s 15th Relay for Life is set for Saturday, June 9 from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Amherst Stadium. Events will include the survivors’ reception followed by the survivors and caregivers walk along with the opening ceremonies and luminary ceremony later in the evening.
The theme of this year’s relay is the Olympics.
To date, 11 teams have registered for the relay that this year and more than $1.5 million has been raised at the Amherst relay since it began at the Robb complex more than a decade ago.
Teams can enter by going to relayforlife.ca. For further information email [email protected] .
A lot of people have come and gone since then, and the number of teams is much smaller than it once was, but the determination of those who participate is still stronger than ever.
“We cannot give up, we have to keep fighting back because we are making gains, we are making advances against this disease and the fact is it’s still taking too many of the people who know,” said White, captain of the BK Believers.
White, a two-time cancer survivor himself, a group of his co-workers came together when the relay began to raise money in support of one of their own. It grew from there and took on added meaning when cancer claimed the life of popular Spring Street Academy principal Barry Kelly and music teacher and choir director Ruth Nichols.
Participation on the BK Believers rises and falls and presently only has a few members, but White is expecting that number to climb now that another staff member at the Amherst elementary school was recently diagnosed with the disease.
White and his team have raised more than $100,000 for Relay for Life through almost every kind of fundraiser imaginable and White has been rather creative in his ideas from offering an NHL playoff hockey pool, the guessing when a snowbank in the Amherst Centre mall parking lot would melt.
This is Laura Farrow’s first year as chairperson of the Amherst Relay for Life, but she has been involved with the organizing committee for several years. For Farrow, seeing the survivors proudly walk around the makeshift track at the Amehrst Stadium is what Relay for Life is all about.
She said it’s a night fill of different emotions: some happy, some sad.
“You go through a lot of emotions. At the start, everyone is celebrating the start of another relay with the opening ceremonies and the arrival of the survivors and then it’s emotional and somber as we light the luminaries in honour or memory of someone with cancer and then spirits are lifted at the end of the evening as we realize we’ve made to the end of another relay,” Farrow said.
While some fundraisers come and go, Farrow said the reason for the relay keeps people coming back year after year to not only participate, but to donate money to the cause. It’s also a great way to bring survivors and those fighting the disease together to renew acquaintances and share stories of their own personal battles with cancer.
“It’s all about people,” Farrow said. “Everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer. It could be themselves, or someone in their family, or someone they know. This is a chance for everyone to raise some money to fight back against cancer.”
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
