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Story and photos By Nichole Richardson

“This event is the single largest cancer fundraiser worldwide and is meant to ‘Celebrate, Remember, and Fight Back,’” said  Eleanor Hungerford, community manager for Relay for Life Corps. Many community members and corporate sponsors came to show their support, including Majic 104.9, Z107.7, 100.3 GenXradio, Oldies 103.3,  the St.Louis Cardinals, SSM Cancer Care and DePaul Health Center.

The event kicked off at Central with the Survivor’s Dinner at 5:30, which was hosted by Atonement Men’s Club. The dinner was held in rental tents in the center of the parking lot where survivors and their caregivers shared a bite before the relay began.

Participants showed support by contributing donations (which began at five dollars) to purchase personalized luminary bags dedicated to cancer victims and by walking laps around the school’s massive parking lot. Laps could be done individually or in teams, so long as at least one member of a team was walking at all times.  There were 19 teams this year with the top grossing team from Christian Hospital.

Sheryl McClary, Supervisor of Volunteers for Christian Hospital said she has been involved with the benefit for five years now and this year is extra special, being the tenth anniversary of her mother’s death from cancer. “Our fundraising is made up of different departments at Christian and we all started last October. We raised over $17,000 this year!”

There were also activities and entertainment planned for those needing a break during the relay, such as the Sugarettes Baton Twirlers, various vendors like Papa Murphys, and even public Zumba class sponsored by Curves.

Zumba instructor Tracey McGee was all smiles about being invited to participate in the relay. “I am very excited and honored to represent Zumba and myself and also to raise awareness and funds for a cure,” boasted McGee.

At ten p.m. the luminaria surrounding the lot were lit with glow sticks by Boy Scout Troop 829. This particular troop has been volunteering to light the bags for many years now and it has become a troop tradition.

There are currently over 5,000 annual Relay events in the United States and even some overseas and in military camps. ACS volunteer Delilah Morkisz is the Eastern Missouri Regional Relay Council Chair and has 69 relays in her vicinity alone. “We have them from almost to Iowa all the way to New Madrid,” said Morkisz.

No matter what Relay one attends, the goal is always the same: to bring the community together and show support while raising money to fight this terrible disease. For survivors like Anne Frese, the relay is a celebration of winning and yet another way to raise awareness for early detection.