The McDuffie County Relay for Life announced its plans for this year’s event, with its walk to be Friday, May 11, at the Thomson High School track.
This activity, which started locally in 1998, brings the community together and shows their support and effort to find a cure for cancer. Goals for this year aree $155,000 in fundraising from 50 teams with 1,500 participants, honoring 275 cancer survivors.
Thomson and McDuffie County have a long history of fun-filled, successful Relays, and Co-chairmen Bob Knox Jr. and Mary Wade Bell encourage all interested participants to get involved. The Relay Kickoff will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Augusta Technical School Thomson Auditorium. Past Relay teams are urged to attend, and anyone interested in setting up a new team or participating may join others on Tuesday. A minimum of 10 people may set up a team, sponsored by a church, business or civic club or to honor cancer survivors or victims.
In a news release, organizers said, “Relay for Life is the signature event for fundraising and education of the American Cancer Society, the nation’s premier cancer-fighting organization. Cancer’s terrible effects continue in our nation and community, and Relay for Life gives us all a tangible, hands-on means to fight the dread disease, raise funds for research and patient care, and educate all as to the early detection and cure of cancer.”
In a letter to supporters, Relay organizers wrote, “We had a tremendously fine Relay in 2011, raising more than $145,000 for cancer research and education and involving more than 2,000 people from our county in direct participation. We took a break in 2010 to give our teams and participants time to rest and renew, but cancer doesn’t stop, and it was time to renew our efforts and we came back in 2011 with a great community effort.”
Over the past 13 years, McDuffie’s Relays have raised more than $2 million and have been national award winners in fundraising and number of participants.
Contact Knox at bknox@knoxandswanattorneys.com or at (706) 595-1841, by fax at (706) 595-2404, or by mail at P.O. Box 539, Thomson, GA 30824. Contact Bell at granny72@bellsouth.net or at (706) 231-5178.
Or contact American Cancer Society representative Beth Firebaugh at beth.firebaugh@cancer.org or at (706) 731-9900, or toll-free at (866) 227-0904.
