The Global Fight Against Cancer

Relay For Life® Event in Nelspruit, South Africa, Draws More than 5,000 Participants

Relay teams walk laps during Nelspruit, South Africa Relay event

A recent Relay For Life® event in Nelspruit, South Africa, drew large crowds and local media coverage. Volunteers of the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) organized the Relay in Nelspruit from March 7-8, at Laerskool Nelspruit Sports Field. The event built on the success of last year’s first-ever Relay in the city. This year, more than 5,000 participants and 134 teams joined together in the fight against cancer. The event was covered in two issues of the Nelspruit newspaper Lowvelder, which featured related stories and photos as well as a personal message from Dr. Gordy Klatt, the American Cancer Society volunteer who inspired the Relay For Life movement. The publication of Dr. Klatt’s message and success of the Relay event drew praise from CANSA and members of the Nelspruit community and helped showcase how Relay For Life is making a difference in communities in South Africa and around the world.

International Relay For Life Representatives Participate in Cancer Research UK Relay Summit

Jeff Ross (left), American Cancer Society South Atlantic Division board member and National Relay Advisory Team member, and Rebecca Gardner (right), Cancer Research UK staff member

Representatives of the American Cancer Society’s International Relay For Life® program were honored to attend the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Relay Summit on October 17-19 in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. Among the guest speakers for this event was Jeff Ross, American Cancer Society South Atlantic Division board member and National Relay Advisory Team member. During his keynote address and a panel discussion, Jeff demonstrated his huge passion for Relay and proved once again that there is an international movement of Relay volunteers and staff committed to eradicating cancer. The summit convened dedicated Relay volunteers and staff from all over the United Kingdom, all committed to learning how to grow and develop their Relay programs as part of the global fight against cancer.

Potokwane Celebrates Largest Relay For Life® Event in South Africa

The stadium of the Pietersburg High School in Potokwane, South Africa, was transformed into a venue of hope and celebration on October 3 and 4, 2008, to accommodate a historic event: the largest Relay For Life in South Africa. Despite being located in Limpopo, the poorest province in the country, the Potokwane Relay drew over 162 registered teams, families, and individual participants – including more than 200 cancer survivors – and raised 729,000 South African rand for the fight against cancer. The event launched with the Survivors Lap, in which 180 cancer survivors took to the stadium track amidst singing, dancing, and cheering. Following a sit-down dinner on behalf of the survivors, registered teams had their turn walking the track. An estimated 3,000 lumunaria candles burned during the event’s Luminaria Ceremony, creating a tranquil glow of remembrance. The Relay came to a dramatic close the next morning with the release of 200 doves. Proceeds raised by the Potokwane Relay For Life event will go toward efforts to help the Potokwane Region of the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA). This organization will work improve the lives of local cancer patients and their families through a host of initiatives, including monthly prevention and information campaigns; support efforts for the Theunis Fichardt Hospitium, which has taken care of cancer patients and their families for the past nineteen years; and support for the Tough Living with Cancer (TLC) project, which assists children and adults affected by cancer.

American Cancer Society Nationwide Relay For Life® Summit Draws Relay Volunteers and Staff From Three Continents

June Porter-Mills (left), a volunteer, and David Trim, (right), a staff member, from the Cancer Society of New Zealand

Twelve Relay volunteers and staff from three continents joined thousands of other participants at the American Cancer Society Nationwide Relay For Life Summit held August 1-2 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Relay representatives, from Australia (Victoria and Western Australia), Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, took part in training, shared in the celebration and preparation for the 25th year of Relay, and represented the global family of Relayers – now spanning 20 countries around the world – and their achievements in cancer education, survivorship, fundraising, and advocacy. Prior to the summit, these Relayers met at the International Relay For Life Workshop in Indianapolis on July 31. During this workshop, volunteers and staff shared information on their recent Relay activities and created program and event development strategies to strengthen Relay For Life in their countries.

Relay For Life® Draws 3,000 Participants in Zululand, South Africa

Cancer survivors walking the first lap of honor at Relay For Life® event in Zululand, South Africa

On May 30, under the night sky in Zululand, South Africa, a flare kicked off a remarkable Relay For Life® event that drew more than 3,000 participants. At the vast Zululand Chamber of Business Foundation show grounds, 82 Relay teams gathered to give their hearts, energy, and donations to the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA). The crowd of Zululanders, which represented the cultural and demographic diversity of the community, walked, danced, sang, and celebrated through the night to raise more than $25,000 for CANSA activities and programs. More than 600 luminaria bags lined the track as 90 cancer survivors walked the first lap of honor, which was followed by a lap by their caregivers and the CANSA committee. During the closing ceremony, Deputy Mayor Celiwe Madlopha praised the participants, sponsors, and organizers and gave the Zululand Observer newspaper credit for promoting and supporting this successful Relay event.

Global Reach of Relay For Life® Featured on California TV News Report

A local television station, KGET 17, in Bakersfield, California, broadcast a news report on May 5 on the Bakersfield American Cancer Society Relay For Life® event, highlighting how it demonstrated the global reach of Relay, the Society’s signature activity. Staff and volunteers from Cancer Research UK, a cancer control organization in the United Kingdom, came to this year's Relay For Life in Bakersfield to learn how American Cancer Society staff and volunteers organize and manage their Relay programs. The four Cancer Research UK staff and volunteers, from England, Scotland, and Wales, took away many strategic Relay best practices they can use upon returning to the United Kingdom, from overall management at senior levels to working with volunteers at the community level. They learned how a Relay program can serve as a portal through which their organization can showcase everything they do at the community level in the fight against cancer, and how it can help them raise funds to save more lives. Staff and volunteers from Cancer Research UK and the American Cancer Society were featured in the news report, including Iris Pendergast, lead manager for International Relay For Life training in the Society’s Great West Division. Relay events are now held in more than 600 communities spanning 19 countries outside the United States. To see the news report video and read the related article, please click the following link: 

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=129bdec7-9f68-40b5-ba0a-137422be83ea

Mid-South Conducts African Relay For Life® Leadership Training and Attends Relay in Oudtschoorn, South Africa

Three hundred participants rallied at the Oudtschoorn Relay event and stayed active with exercises including spinning (above).

Joe Cahoon, Mid-South Division chief executive officer, and Ryan Palmer, vice president of Constituent Services for the Mid-South Division, conducted a Relay For Life senior strategy training for leaders of the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) regional offices.  During the February 2 briefing in Oudtschoorn, South Africa, the group focused on best practices in Relay leadership recruitment, activities, mission integration, corporate strategies, and discussed lessons learned during Relay’s 20-year history. Gina Myracle, a Mid-South volunteer and Division board member, conducted an intensive training for CANSA Relay volunteers who are gearing up for a significant program expansion this year. After the trainings, the group attended South Africa’s second Relay event on February 3 at the De Jager Sports Complex, a municipal facility in Oudtschoorn. Twenty-two teams, 50 survivors, and approximately 300 participants rallied around the field during the night, staying active with family activities such as hourly exercise classes and cooking contests.

Slovenia Hosts Great West Division Volunteer at Relay Training

   

The first in-country training in Slovenia was held in Ljubljana the second week of November. This training was attended by 12 participants and one volunteer from the Great West, Shelley Mauss. Although Slovenia has participated in Relay For Life for the last several years, the country’s Relay organizers are looking forward to applying the skills they have learned to the upcoming events. The Slovenian Relay For Life (Hoja za Življenje za Pre Živele Z Rakom, RTF) is scheduled for spring 2007.

Ireland Launches First Relay For Life with Great Success

Over 250 cancer survivors and 29 teams gathered in Dublin, Ireland, for the country’s first Relay For Life on October 7, 2006. The North Wall Women’s Centre hosted the event to coincide with its 21st anniversary. All funds raised benefited the Irish Cancer Society. John McCormack, chief executive of the Irish Cancer Society, delivered the key note address. Other speakers included filmmaker Peter Sheridan and presenter George Hook. The overnight event was held on both sides of the River Liffey and drew participants from both north and south Dublin. 

Denmark Launches Relay For Life

Fifteen teams and approximately 200 community members participated in Denmark’s first Relay For Life (Stafet For Livet) September 16-17 in Holbæk, Denmark. The Danish Cancer Society’s inaugural event kicked off on an unseasonably warm and sunny afternoon with more than 50 survivors (called "fighters" in Denmark) participating in the Survivors Lap of Honor. One 60-year-old cancer fighter who walked the Survivor’s Lap remarked that she no longer felt alone in her fight against cancer. She is among many participants who plan to return next year. Five events are scheduled in Denmark in 2007, including Holbæk’s second annual event.