“Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back” is the motto that surrounds the national efforts of Relay for Life — a community fundraiser geared toward remembering, honoring and spreading awareness about the lives lost and saved from cancer.
Voorhees declared May as Paint the Town Purple Month in the hopes of drawing attention to the annual Relay for Life at Eastern Regional High School. According to Relay for Life community representative Dianna Coscette, purple represents all forms of cancer.
She said the hope is to get Voorhees businesses involved in promoting the event.
Relay for Live of Voorhees chair Jeannette Golden said this is the second year the event is being held in Voorhees and the first of the township’s declaration.
“It is quite difficult getting people involved,” she said.
Golden and Coscette are hoping awareness will spread if businesses and organizations participate in “painting the town purple.” Coscette said businesses could do anything from decorating the outside of shops in purple or hanging event-related posters or signs.
Golden said she would try to get the schools involved in the event next year, taking “what is now small and growing it in Voorhees.”
Last year, the event attracted approximately 200 participants and raised $22,000. To date, 79 people have signed up to attend, raising $19,507.
“We work all year long to get teams together,” Golden said, adding people often mistake the event as a race. “A lot of people start teams around a survivor or in memory of someone who has lost a battle with cancer. That’s the basis of the relay.”
According to Golden, each team raises money by hosting fundraising events.
Jeff Jaskol and his wife, Stacey, raised $14,975 under their Al Jaskol Memorial team. Golden said this is the first year the Jaskol family is participating, and they hosted an at-home fundraiser to raise the funds.
Survivors, supporters, family and friends will gather, sharing one thing in common.
The event will begin with a “Survivors Lap,” followed by 12 hours of games and events, food, fundraising, celebration and remembrance.
But the most touching experience is at dusk.
Golden said there is a luminaire ceremony, where hundreds of white bags with candles are lined up. The line of bags glows as the sun sets and the names on the side of each bag stand out as a reminder of the lives lost and those who survived.
“My kids always get a luminary for me,” said Golden, who is a cancer survivor. “A lot of us involved are survivors.”
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 13.7 million Americans, both now cancer-free or battling cancer, are living as of Jan. 1, 2012. Approximately 1.6 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed, and 1,600 people die of cancer every year.
“If anybody didn’t understand what the Relay for Life is at that very moment, when they pass the bag, or the luminary of their loved one, and all of you see the glow of the bags, there is such an emotional pull,” Golden said.
Relay for Life at Eastern Regional High School is from May 31 at 6 p.m. to June 1 at 6 a.m. The proceeds from the event will go toward the American Cancer Society’s support programs, recovery programs research and more.
Golden said some of those funds would also stay local.
For more information, visit www.relayforlife.org and search Relay for Life of Voorhees under “Find an event.”
