Why Come to Relay For Life?

Relay For Life of Paulding County is one of the best-kept secrets in the county.

Sure, we have 71 teams and nearly 900 people signed up to participate in this year’s event, which begins Friday at 6 p.m. at Veterans Park in Dallas and goes until Saturday morning. But if more folks knew what goes on there, the attendance would be much higher (and we’re hoping it is).

For starters, it’s one of the few community events that brings together nearly every local school, churches from different denominations, businesses from different industries, individuals of varying backgrounds and others—all for the singular cause of ridding the world of cancer. Not many fundraisers and causes can boast that.  And if you’re not already involved with a team, chances are you’ll run into someone you know at the event because they’re participating.

Many of those participating teams during the event will be raising money for Relay For Life, which benefits the American Cancer Society, and they’ll be glad to have you help them. Some teams will be selling food and drink, while others will have toys and other fun items for purchase. Silent auctions and raffles, games, photo booths and more are among the other fundraising activities that will be going on throughout the evening.

Here’s another thing you might not know about Relay: It’s entertaining. In addition to celebrations of cancer survivors and remembrances of those who lost their personal battles with the disease, the event features entertainment provided by performers from across the county, as well as lively music when a live act isn’t on stage.

As I previously mentioned, this year’s event is being held at Veterans Park in Dallas, next to the Watson Government Complex. If you haven’t been to the park yet, then Relay is the perfect time to check out this new addition to the county.

Lastly, Relay For Life provides an opportunity to learn about cancer, which will affect about half of all men and a third of all women in the United States sometime during their lifetimes. It’s an unfortunate fact that one is likely to one day see at least one relative face a form of cancer, or develop cancer themselves. We take part in Relay For Life for a variety of reasons, but I think it boils down to the desire to fight for someone we’ve lost or someone we don’t want to lose.

In short, for those of you who don’t have anything else to do Friday night, Relay For Life serves as a nice night of entertainment where you can spend a few bucks to have dinner, buy some cool items for your family and maybe even get your name in for a great prize—all the while helping the community raise money to fight cancer and help those affected by the disease. If you’re not already involved in Relay, we hope you’ll come out and be a part of it, even for a short while. Our event is open to the public.

For those of you reading those who are already involved in Relay For Life, I hope you’ll take some time this week to invite anyone who isn’t already coming. Every additional attendee is a chance to raise a few more dollars to help fund the fight against cancer, and those newcomers just might get more involved in time for Relay For Life 2015.

Before we get there, though, here’s to hoping Relay For Life of Paulding County 2014 is one of our best years ever.

Jon Gargis

Relay For Life Planning Committee, Publicity Chairman

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