Relay for Life sign-ups open

Spring is on its way and with the nicer weather comes the annual Putnam County Relay for Life event, which helps the fight against cancer. In hopes of stirring up some excitement for the event, the organization committee recently held a kickoff bash at Area 30 Career Center.

Relay for Life, which is the American Cancer Society's signature event, is dedicated to increasing awareness and raising funds to fight cancer. The event itself, which first began in May 1985 in Tacoma, Wash., consists of multiple teams of family, friends and co-workers who camp out and take turns walking the track. Relay takes place worldwide in more than 5,000 communities and 20 countries and is said to raise nearly $500 million a year.

During the event, participants and visitors will have a chance to celebrate the victory of area cancer survivors during the survivors lap; remember those we have lost to the disease during the poignant luminaria ceremony; and participate in the fight back ceremony that gives everyone a chance to proclaim their way of taking action against the disease.

This year, Relay for Life will take place on Saturday, May 2 from 11 a.m.-11 p.m., at DePauw University's newly renovated Blackstock Stadium. In keeping with tradition, teams will once again be able to set up tents during the event. However, due to the stadium now being an Astroturf field, participants will not be allowed to use stakes for their tent setups.

"This year, we're going to be able to go back outside," Community Event Chairman Dick Shuck said. "This has been something that has been desirable by most of the community teams for the last couple of years. Construction is over hopefully, so we will be outside. The only reason we would go inside is if we had weather problems. This also allows for larger crowd participation. You can almost do three times as much set-up as you can when you go inside."

Teams typically consist of about 15 members, but all sizes are welcome to participate. All members are welcome to attend the actual relay but are not required to. However, teams are advised to have enough members to walk the track at all times.

Teams are also not required to have a campsite. However, with the event moving back outdoors there will be plenty of space as opposed to previous years when there was limited space in DePauw's Indoor Tennis and Track Center.

"In prior years we were restricted due to the construction going on," Shuck told the Banner Graphic. "This year however, you can't stake anything down because it's all Astroturf. As long as people understand that you won't be allowed to drive stakes into the ground it will be a wonderful event. We will also have people out there to monitor that sort of thing."

With the hope of attracting more families to the event, this year the committee has chosen a theme of Disney. Participants are asked to dress up as their favorite characters as well as decorate their campsites accordingly.

"It can be anything that you want it to be," ACS staff partner Casey Trojnar said. "I'm really excited about it. Get creative with it. I think it will be really fun to see how that plays out."

This year, teams will also have the opportunity to participate in a fundraising effort, March Madness, which will include 64 teams from across all of Central Indiana.

During the fundraising event, those 64 teams will go head-to-head bracket style over the course of seven weeks, staring on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Those who raise the most money online will win a Relay for Life campsite.

"It's just like a basketball bracket," Trojnar said. "It's going to be amazing. The winner will receive a Relay for Life campsite that will be decked out. It's going to be really cool. All the Relay for Life managers will set up your campsite for you, which is pretty cool."

In order to participate in March Madness a team representative must email Trojnar at casey.trojnar@cancer.org to sign up. The 64 teams will be chose on a first-come, first-served basis.

With the event just being a few months away, it was also noted that Relay for Life is looking for more community volunteers to help with not only the planning process, but during the event itself.

"We began earnestly reaching out into the community for more community involvement in working with Relay for Life," Shuck noted. "The more people we can get involved in the community, the quicker we can spread the word and the more accurate we can be with information being disseminated in the community."

Shuck noted that the committee is still searching for volunteers to not only help with the planning of the event, but to help the day of the event with such things as food stands, registration, the collection of money and more.

"The students are staying more focused to the campus area and we're trying to get our community people more involved at the community level," Shuck added. "That's why we're asking for more volunteers to assist us and to get more involved with Relay."

It was also noted that teams will be asked to donate one item to go toward the silent auction in hopes of matching or exceeding last year's total of $4,000. Teams will be asked closer to the date of the event to turn in their item for the auction, which should be labeled with the team name and a minimum value.

Keeping with tradition and the motto of "Cancer Never Sleeps," each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event and to raise a minimum of $100 each.

Relay for Life is also looking for sponsorships for the event. Depending on the amount of donation, the business will have its name on a T-shirt and banner as well as mentioned in the opening and closing ceremonies. However, if a team member were to find a business to help sponsor the event, the money raised from that sponsorship will go toward that team's total as well.

Closing out the meeting Shuck and Trojnar noted that for a community of Putnam County's size, it is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation for its fundraising efforts. This year, Relay for Life is looking to take that No.1 spot.

"One of our goals this year is to be No. 1 in the nation," Shuck added. "Again, we are encouraging people to sign up a team and as you build that team, do whatever you're comfortable doing to raise funds for that team."

For more information on the event email dickshuck@depauw.edu. To sign up a team visit www.relayforlife.org.

The first captains meeting is set to take place on Wednesday, Feb. 18.