Logan County cancer survivors, their friends, family and other supporters squared off and took a big swing.
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ABOVE: Honorary co-chairman and 21-year cancer survivor Aaron Taylor, second from left, leads the Relay for Life’s Survivor Lap as other survivors with purple shirts file in behind during the Friday evening annual event at the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center. HOME PAGE SLIDESHOW PHOTO: Caleb Shreve, 7, of Bellefontaine, a member of the Team Flawless group that brought a junk car painted with the slogan Smash Cancer, takes one of the first swings at the car with a hammer during the Friday evening fundraiser. (EXAMINER PHOTOS | REUBEN MEES) |
The goal was to raise more than $100,000 to “smash cancer” in Friday’s 18th annual Logan County Relay for Life, which raises money for the American Cancer Society.
Relay co-chair Emily Shreve and her Team Flawless even brought a brightly-painted car to allow the survivors to take a symbolic swing at the disease.
“We’re smashing cancer,” Ms. Shreve said. “It’s just something fun we thought we could do to raise some money the night of the event. We actually stole the idea from Champaign County, but Wren’s Towing and Springhills Auto Recovery donated the car and made it possible.”
The group went into the event with $40,844, which included $7,161 from Bellefontaine High School, and $3,888 from Indian Lake, along with numerous other donations from other groups and fundraiser events, Ms. Shreve said.
But then Benjamin Logan Schools, which is always among the top organizations, turned over a check for $30,000, bringing the total to more than $70,000 early in the night.
With that donation, they expected to exceed the goal, but a total amount was not announced until the closing ceremony at midnight.
“The heavy involvement of the schools seems to be the key here in Logan County,” Mark Kaufman, a senior manager for the Dayton region of the American Cancer Society, said. “The atmosphere here is great and the event is wonderful.”
Each activity in the six-hour event, which took place at the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, is symbolic of a cancer patient’s journey, Ms. Shreve said in her remarks.
From walking laps, which represents the journey itself, to the exhaustion participants feel at the end, each activity has a meaning.
“The light and the darkness of the day and night parallel the physical effects, emotions and mental states of a cancer patient while undergoing treatment,” she said. “When you join the Relay for Life event, you join Logan County in supporting cancer patients and fighting back against this disease; together we are working to find a cure.
“When you leave the Relay for Life event, think of the cancer patient leaving their last treatment. Just as you will be exhausted and drained when you leave tonight, so is the cancer patient after treatment. But there is hope in the new day.”
The participants also lighted luminaries as the sun set in memory of both the survivors and those like last year’s honorary co-chair Teresa Shipp who passed away just a month ago after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Ms. Shreve said each luminary symbolized a treasured relationship.
“Whether that person is here with us tonight in body or in spirit, the effect of their flame remains in our heart,” she said. “The memory of their light, their strength, their determination, their hope and their optimism sustains us.”
This year’s honorary co-chair was Aaron Taylor, who briefly shared his story of learning at age 23 he had a malignant lump in his throat that had to be removed and treated. Now a 21-year cancer survivor and participant in the Relay for all 18 years, Mr. Taylor got to fulfill one of his longtime goals of leading the crowd in the National Anthem at the Relay. A feature on Mr. Taylor appeared in Thursday’s Examiner.