Come one, come all Saturday, April 14th beginning at 3:00 PM at the Neighborhood Park to support this years World Golf Village Relay for Life! Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, this overnight relay-style event will be running until 9:00 AM Sunday, April 15th and will have multiple local teams participating to raise awareness and donations. If you have not signed up yet for a team or if you want to create your own team it’s very simple, visit http://www.worldgolfrelay.com/. There’s a Bearsford team, Murray Bros Caddy Shack, Davidson Realty, Samara Lakes, The Golf Club of South Hampton, Village Chiropractic Center, Providence Bible Church and more to choose from!

If you are not familiar with Relay for Life, it began in the mid-1980s when Dr. Gordy Klatt from Tacoma wanted to increase the income of his local American Cancer Society office and support his patients who had battled cancer. In 1985, Dr. Klatt put his passions for running marathons and fundraising together and spent 24 straight hours running around a track while friends, family and patients watched.  Throughout the evening friends donated $25 to run or walk with Dr. Klatt for 30 minutes, raising $27,000 to fight cancer, and one man’s vision turned into a nation wide event.

Over 20 years later this event is flourishing in almost every city across the United States. Teams are formed by passionate friends and family, who take turns walking around the track for the duration of the event. Tents are set up by teams with food, games, and other activities to provide entertainment and multiple fundraising opportunities. This community wide event encourages everyone to show up and rally together to help fight cancer one way or another.

The Relay starts with a “Survivors Lap,” an emotional and inspirational time when survivors are invited to circle the track together and help celebrate their victory over cancer. After a few hours, when the sun goes down and it’s dark, there is a luminaria ceremony. Participants are asked to honor those touched be cancer and remember loved ones who lost their battle to this unfortunate disease. Finally, there is the “Fight Back Ceremony,” this is when participants make a personal commitment to take actions in one way or another and save lives. From quitting smoking to talking with officials, it’s one step closer to spreading awareness and fighting back against this disease.

There are still plenty of opportunities to join or create a team, donate or volunteer for this year’s World Golf Village Relay For Life.  Start fighting back today!