About 800 participants and more than 70 relay teams are expected to take part in Santa Maria’s Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society on July 9 and 10.
Participants will camp out overnight at the Elks Unocal Event Center and take turns walking or running for 24 hours, to represent the fact that cancer never sleeps. An opening ceremony will be held July 9 at 10 a.m., followed by a lap run/walk by cancer survivors at 10:30 a.m. A luminaria ceremony takes place at 8 p.m. The closing ceremony for the event will be held at 9 a.m. on July 10.
A $10 registration/commitment fee is required for each participant, due upon registration. Any donations taken through individual, team, or online fundraising will be accepted. Relay for Life organizers recommend each participant set a personal goal of $100 in pledges, though those who don’t reach the goal are still welcome to participate.
Each year, more than 3 million people in 5,000 communities in the United States, along with 19 other countries, take part in Relay for Life to raise funds for cancer research. Santa Maria relay organizers have already raised more than $20,000 from this year’s event.
The Elks Unocal Events Center is at 1309 N. Bradley Road in Santa Maria.
To sign up as a participant or volunteer in the Relay for Life, visit relayforlife.org and search for local events.
For more information on the Santa Maria Relay for Life, e-mail Debbie Jeffers at deb.jeffers@cancer.org, Tony Gonzales at tgonzales@101marketing.biz, or call 714-4993.
This article appears in Jun 23-30, 2011.
