Community Corner
Relay For Life: Twelve Hours of Walking Start Friday
Event raises funds to battle "the disease that never sleeps."
More than two hundred people are counting down the days and working hard to fundraise before the Relay For Life event that begins Friday at Mennen Arena.
"It is a twelve-hour, overnight event where "teams" walk the track to raise money for all types of cancer," said Brittany Santore, event co-chair. Thirty-six teams are listed on the Relay for Life website, ranging from the Morris Township Fire Department to the women of the Jerzey Brigade roller derby team. The Calvary Baptist Church has two teams with a total of 23 members. There are teams from local high schools including Morristown, Delbarton, and Randolph.
Santore has been involved in Relay for Life in the Morris area for three years, but her journey with the organization began in college. She chaired an event at Loyola University in Maryland during her senior year. At that time, she had a classmate who was diagnosed with cance and, she said, he was inspired by the display of devotion.
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He passed away only a few months later, but the hope spread by Relay for Life did not die, Santore said. “If we touched just him, just one person with cancer, it has made all the hard work worth it.”
There are 60 cancer survivors signed up for the Mennen event, which they will kick-off with a “Survival Lap.”
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According to Santore, the most important activity of the night is the 9:00 p.m. luminaria ceremony. Luminaria (candles placed inside bags) are lit in honor, in memory or in support of someone who has died, beat, or is suffering from cancer.
“It is very special. Every luminaria tells a story and it reminds us of why we are there,” said Santore.
The all-night walk around the track is symbolic of the battle against "the disease that never sleeps.” The money raised will go to the American Cancer Society.
Santore said that the funds will not be donated only to cancer research. “The money goes to amazing programs, like rides for cancer patients for their treatments, wigs for patients whole have lost their hair, counseling for patients and their families. There is so much more. I could go on for hours."
And she will, Friday night, on the track.
