Third annual Relay for Life big success

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

Kane Fuqua, left, and Ridge Reynolds duke it out at one of the booths during the event. Kane, 12, was born with neuroblastoma but has remained cancer free since being cured as a baby. (Charles W. Johnson photos)

The weather was warm, the crowd was enthusiastic, supportive and open, and so were their wallets, as the 3rd annual Relay for Life event got underway last Friday night in Nunley Stadium. More than 50 Relay for Life teams worked to raise money for cancer research, and were amazingly effective, taking in $80,000 even before the main event, where they went to work in earnest.

With their booths set up and crowds on hand ready to shop till they dropped, literally, since the event went on all night, Warren County came up with another $48,000 for a total of $128,000, well over the $96,000 total from last year in the American Cancer Society fundraiser.

Event co-chair Carole Cathcart was thrilled with the turnout, saying Warren County has taken Relay for Life to its collective heart and more and more people are discovering the event each year.

“So many more people participated this year,” Cathcart said. “I had people say to me that night, ‘I had never been to Relay.’ The word “Relay” has become a buzzword now.”

Though there were solemn moments, like the reading of the names of survivors and those lost to the disease during the luminaria ceremony, the general mood of the event was celebratory, with several of those attending likening it to the mood of the county fair, even comparing the crowd’s movement around the track to the circling of the midway.

Cathcart says the event has developed a loyal following in the three years it has been going on in Warren County.

“So many people came up to me and said, ‘I came from out of town,'” Cathcart said. “I mean, they made the effort to come back in to Warren County to come to Relay. Now that is very touching.”

Dr. Barun Mukherji was on hand early during the event, making the Survivor Walk with other local survivors. Dr. Mukherji talked later about the importance of supporting cancer research with fundraisers like Relay for Life.

“I think it is extremely important,” Mukherji said. “Money comes from different sources, the government is giving money, but that is not sufficient. Individual contributions for additional money are needed and Relay for Life is one of the best ways to do it. When people are afflicted with cancer, of course in the early stages there is surgery, but then if it returns they have to depend on chemotherapy. New drugs are being developed and a lot of research goes on and it requires money, so private individual contributions are very important.”

Mukherji praised the spirit of cooperation in Warren County.

“It cannot be done by one individual,” Mukherji said. “It is a collective effort and that is how it should be done.”