Relay For Life Kickoff An Inspiring Beginning To This Year's Event

Cancer survivors, friends and family members came out to kick off the fourth annual Coventry Relay For Life at the on Thursday night.

The 18-hour relay, scheduled from June 10 at 4 p.m. to June 11 at 10 a.m. gives members of the community the opportunity to celebrate the lives of loved ones who have battled cancer, remember those who have lost the battle and fight back against the disease.

Teams of eight to 15 participants that have raised funds for the American Cancer Society (ACS) will take turns walking or running around the track and will have a representative from each team on the track at all times.

Event co-chairs, Lisa Coons and Ryan Belmore, along with 2008 Chairperson and ACS volunteer, Lynn Peters shared an informational video, inspirational stories and fundraising tips for participants during the hour-and-a-half long kickoff event.

Coventry's Relay For Life, one of 20 Relays in the state has grown tremendously over the past four years. The first year's Relay raised $26,000, the second $45,000 and last year's had 50 teams, 497 participants and shattered the $60,000 goal with a remarkable $100,800 total. Coventry also gained All-Star status last year, an honor awarded to only eight of 250 New England Relays.

Belm0re explained that this year's goals include raising $125,000, having 60 teams  (roughly 650 participants), and 115 survivors that will take part in the Survivor Lap at the beginning of the event, a Relay For Life tradition. He made it very clear that while these numbers are this year's goals, he is very optimistic they will be exceeded.

Robert Soucy, Jean Moore and Brenda Nault are all cancer survivors and were among the attendees on Thursday night. They will be participating in the relay this year for the fourth time as part of the "Hec's Hope" team in memory of Soucy's husband and Nault's father, Hec who lost his battle to colon cancer. The cause is a very personal one for this team who have beaten many odds. Soucy and Nault will be celebrating seven cancer-free years after battling breast cancer simultaneously. The team sold gift baskets and quilts last year to raise money and hope to have a fundraising supper this year.

"We participate in memory of Hec and we hope to be able to help find a cure," said Soucy.

This year's Relay For Life is themed "Colors for a Cure" which will be represented by each team's choice of the form of cancer they will be supporting. There are currently 22 colors that will be sported by participants as they make their laps around the track on June 10-11.

Relay For Life began in 1985 and is now the largest volunteer-driven charity in the world. It is held in 21 countries and has raised over $3 billion worldwide to date.

For more information about Coventry's Relay, how to start a team, donate or sponsor, contact ACS staff partner Megan Anderson at megan.evangelista@cancer.org or co-chairs Lisa Coons and Brian Belmare at relayforlifeofcoventry@gmail.com. You can also check out Coventry's event site, here or the Facebook page.