Valkyrie Voice

NEWS FEED

A Night Worth Noting on the Calendar–MGM’s Relay for Life

Mary G. Montgomery High School’s football field and track become a testimony of strength and survival one night each year.  Early in May MGM’s campus is the home to a Relay for Life event that raises thousands of dollars for cancer research and provides emotional support for many who have battled the disease.  This week, on May 6 community members will gather together to celebrate life and raise money for cancer research.  The Relay is open to anyone who would like to participate.  It is a community-wide event.  Teams are formed for the event, and are always willing to take on additional members for anyone who is not already a part of a team.  Each team member must raise at least $100.  Each team is made up of ten participants, so each team who registers as a team automatically contributes $1000.  Each team member who raises his/her $100 receives a tshirt designed specifically for the 2011 Relay.  Each team then plans for the actual evening of the Relay.  Many teams choose to create a theme and set up a tent or grouping of tables for their team.  The theme is used to promote cancer awareness and raise money.  Some teams create activities to raise additional money during the event.  Many groups raffle off prizes.  Some groups sell food, and some groups sell merchandise with all proceeds going toward the entire Relay for Life goal.  Tents are set up beside the track because the track is used for the Relay itself.  One group member from each team must be walking around the track at all times.  Groups may swap out walkers at any time, but one person from each team must be walking.  The trips around the track add up because the event lasts until the wee hours of the morning.  The first three laps around the track at the beginning of the Relay are ceremonial.  They honor cancer victims and cancer survivors.  This can be an emotional display of will and determination.  As the evening progresses, luminaries are sold.  These luminaries are purchased in honor of people who are fighting cancer, have survived cancer or who have been lost to the disease.  The luminaries are placed around the track with the names of loved ones written on them.  They are all lit, and at a certain time during the Relay, all the stadium lights are turned off.  Participants walk silently around the track during the luminary walk with only the light of the luminaries to lead the way.  As participants are walking during this time, the names of the people for whom the luminaries were purchased are read from the press box.  All in all, this is an event that brings the community together.  The Relay has its moments of serious reflection and honor, but it is also a time of fellowship and celebration.  Many cancer survivors from our community are there with their families and friends who take cancer research very seriously. They celebrate the opportunity to make a positive impact on funding for research for such a deadly disease that strikes so many.  Plenty of entertainment and fun is to be had at the Relay in addition to the attention brought to the need for a cure for cancer. 

Mrs. Jane Farnell is the chairperson for MGM’s Relay for Life.  Mrs. Farnell began participating in the Relay for Life because she believed it was a good cause.  Little did she know that she would be affected by cancer shortly after her involvement with the Relay began.  Mrs. Farnell is a survivor and credits efforts like Relays for Life around the country for the advancements in medicine that allow her to be cancer free now.  If you would like more information on how you can donate or participate in the Semmes Relay for Life, contact Jane Farnell at Mary G. Montgomery High School.  221-3153