The ninth annual San Juan Island Relay for Life hits the Friday Harbor High School track Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. to fight cancer.
“This will be the best ever relay,” says sponsorship chairwoman Gretchen Staehlin.
Every year, more than one million people are diagnosed with one of more than 100 kinds of cancer; 12.5 million people are living with cancer, including almost 400,000 children.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports some 575,000 cancer-caused deaths each year, out of 2.5 million total deaths.
Relay for Life was founded in 1985 in Tacoma, Wash. by Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon who was diagnosed in 2012 with stomach cancer. Relay for Life events now number over 5,000 in 20 countries and have raised $4.8 billion since 1985.
This year, more than one million people will participate in Relay for Life events sponsored by the American Cancer Society. In Washington state, 127 Relays will attract about 10,000 participants and volunteers and raise more than $3 million.
On San Juan Island, Gretchen Staehlin, Relay’s sponsorship chairwoman, hopes to match last year’s 238 participants and to raise as much as $50,000 for cancer research and for more than 40 nationwide assistance programs that help people with cancer, their families and caregivers.
Helping people, not statistics, motivates islanders like Staehlin, Judy Cornell, Mike Scott and more than 40 other volunteers who devote hundreds of hours to raising money for research and caregiving. The General Store & Deli, Soroptimists International, Coca Cola, Brown’s, Earthbox, Herb’s Tavern, Islanders Bank and Whidbey Island Bank are participating sponsors.
For the first time, the local Relay will forego the all-night hikes around the track (Dr. Klatt walked and ran for 24 hours by himself at the first Relay) for a one-day event, starting at 10 a.m. and ending about 11 p.m.
After survivor and caregiver laps, as the 10 teams walk and run around the track for almost 10 hours, Relay organizers have scheduled a whole series of games and contests for participants and their children to enjoy.
Geared to a “Through the Decades” theme, with prizes and gifts provided by the American Cancer Society, everyone is invited to compete for a best dressed prize for each decade from the ‘50s to the 2010s.
For the “Fifties” theme, there’s a Hula Hoop Contest, followed by a “Sixties” Tie-Dying theme with a Do the Twist contest, a ‘70s Best Dance Move contest, an ‘80s “Mr. Best-Dressed Mr. Relay” contest, a “Best ‘90s Wear” contest, a “Crazy Hair 2000s” contest and “Dress for the Future” theme for the decade following 2000 and a “monster theme” for the current decade.
The always popular Doughnut Eating contest is part of the Monster Theme. Honoring the high school location, there will be a “Purple Pride” dress contest at 8 p.m., followed by a “Most Relay Gear” contest at 8:30.
About 9 p.m., the Relay’s signature “Luminaria” program begins, with a speaker, followed at dusk by lighting of commemorative Luminaria bag lights, placing them around the track and a “Walk in Silence and Reflection” to honor those who have succumbed to cancer in the past year, followed by the closing ceremony.
It’s a full day of activities, fun, exercise, greeting and meeting old and new friends — and contributing.
And, according to tireless Relay fundraiser Mike Scott, who already produced a “Rock the Cause” fundraiser for the local Relay, “It’s a huge effort by everyone that deserves everyone’s support.”
