Impressive start: Community support puts Relay record within reach

With only a little less than three weeks to go, members of the Wayne County Relay for Life teams are close to another record-breaking fundraising year.

They are currently 60 percent of the way to their $550,000 goal — even with some time left before the actual event kicks off at Wayne Community College May 19-20.

And lest you think that all this work has occurred in the last three weeks — or that the teams are finished raising money — think again.

Many of the teams — some of the most successful have raised in the tens of thousands of dollars already — have been working since the dawn of 2006 to raise funds for the American Cancer Society event.

You might wonder why so many Wayne County residents are so excited about raising money for cancer research. And you might even wonder why this is such an important mission with the large number of other endeavors that could use donations, time and attention.

Cancer touches almost every family in some way. Every year, husbands, wives, mothers and fathers lose their battles to some form of the disease — tragic losses that could be prevented if someone somewhere came up with a cure.

Every dollar that is contributed to the American Cancer Society’s research fund is the potential linchpin in a future cure for cancer. By funding research efforts, we are giving the American Cancer Society new weapons in the battle against the disease. By helping fund the Cancer Society’s other programs, we are giving cancer patients and survivors the support and encouragement they need to keep fighting.

So, that’s why so many Wayne County residents don silly costumes, bake dozens of cookies and hold fundraisers to raise money to battle the disease.

What you might not realize about the Wayne County effort is that this is one of the most successful of its kind in the country. Communities twice or three times this size have raised much less than the $568,000 Wayne County Relay teams sent to the American Cancer Society last year.

It is a result that hundreds of county residents can say they were part of — and many thousands more can say they supported.

As the weeks dwindle down before the Relay event, now is the time to show your support. Buy a bow, participate in a fundraiser or simply plan to be at the May 19-20 event.

That way, you, too, can say you were part of another record-breaking year.

Published in Editorials on May 7, 2006 12:31 AM