Westlake Relay For Life Committee Kicks Off Fundraising Efforts

The Westlake Relay For Life team is ramping up its efforts for this year’s event, hoping to double participants and involve a larger segment of the community. Organizers kicked off plans for this year’s event on Saturday with goals to register over 500 team members and raise $55,000 for the American Cancer Society.

The June event will have a “Family Game Night” theme in efforts to involve more young families and the relay will be held Saturday to Sunday, rather than the traditional Friday to Saturday.

“In past years, it has been running about the same and a little downhill in terms of participants and funds raised so this year, we decided to change the event and make it a Saturday-Sunday event,” said event co-chair Kathleen Werling. “And this year, we’re really targeting families in Westlake. We’re not expecting a tremendous amount of growth. Our goal really is just to get people excited about Westlake Relay For Life again, and start the growth for the years to come and to get more young families involved.”

Werling, who has been involved with the relay since its inception over 10 years ago, said that because the event is held at Westlake High School, there are many high school teams, along with corporate teams and others. But families with young children may not be aware of the fundraiser.

“Our goal is to make it more well known in the community so that everybody can participate, rather than just those people who have a team or who have a family member who’s involved,” she said.

To entice everyone to come out to the event, each team is setting up a booth with a family game night theme. From a Candy Land candy store to a dunk tank, there will be something for kids of every age as well as entertainment from the St. Edward High School Trash Talkers, jugglers from St. Ignatius High School, Irish dancing, live music and DJs. Organizers are even hoping to offer ballroom dance lessons.

“Price-wise it will all be very inexpensive,” said even co-chair Angie Rogozinski, who is participating in Relay For Life for the first time this year. “We want it to be reasonable so that families with multiple children can come and have fun.”

Chick-fil-A is even sponsoring a “cow drop” in which participants can buy a small stuffed cow for $5. They cows are numbered and dropped from a cherry picker onto the football field. The owners of cows that fall into baby pools on the field will get certificates to Chick-fil-A for one year and 100 percent of the proceeds go to Westlake Relay For Life.

The event will also feature a special portion for cancer survivors. This year, Westlake Relay For Life will sponsor a survivors’ luncheon and hand out goodie bags. Organizer Deb Myers, who got involved after a coworker was diagnosed with breast cancer, said survivors will also have the chance to walk a victory lap.

To sign up a team or to volunteer, or for more information, visit their website, follow them on Twitter @WestlakeRFL or visit the Westlake Relay For Life Facebook page