The first ever rally for the Relay For Life of Franklin County
There, at Yankee Candle’s flagship store in Deerfield, some of the 723 walkers who did the 2016 relay were gearing up for the 2017 one.
“I think it’s a great thing to kick off the relay a little sooner,” said Kim Mckenzie, 38, of Greenfield. “It gets us all motivated.”
Saturday’s rally featured booths providing information about ways to reduce one’s risk of cancer, about the programs the American Cancer Society is able to fund using relay donations and about the Franklin County relay itself.
“A lot of teams relay yearround, and we thought this would help teams that don’t do that get started earlier,” said Liz Landry, co-chair of the Relay For Life of Franklin County’s planning committee. “It was a nice introduction, and it’s going to bring more people into our teams.”
Relay For Life is an international event in which participants take turns walking around a track to show support for those who have been affected by cancer and to raise money for the American Cancer Society’s life-saving cancer research and programs. Locally, it happens at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in June.
As the 2017 relay fundraising season began on Sept. 1, relay participants have nine months until the next Relay For Life of Franklin County and nearly a full year in the 2017 fundraising season. Last year, the 723 participants raised more than $217,000.
Michelle Doel, 31, of Greenfield, attended the rally not only to present relay organizers with a donation from the Eye & LASIK Center of Greenfield staff but because she hopes to get involved in 2017’s relay.
“It’s been a few years since we’ve had a team,” Doel said, remembering how Eye & LASIK Center staff used to participate regularly. “But there’s definitely interest there.”
Ann Hawkes, 74, of Conway, who is Mckenzie’s mother and has been participating in relays for 20 years, attended to reconnect with other participants.
“It makes for a nice gathering,” she said, adding that the social aspect is one of the things she appreciates most about Relay For Life events. “It’s a nice family. Once you get to see some of the people and get to know them, you’ll enjoy it.”
Plus, Hawkes said, the rally gave her an excellent excuse to shop, as attendees received an exclusive after-hours shopping experience at Yankee Candle with a 30-percent discount on most items and at Chandler’s Restaurant. The rally also featured raffle prizes and a Yankee Candle scavenger hunt.
Hawkes and her husband are both cancer survivors, and many of her late team members have died from the disease, driving her to participate in Relay For Life year after year in hopes that a cure will one day be found.
“We do it for everybody,” Hawkes said. “There aren’t many people who haven’t been touched by cancer.”
“It’s really hard to walk away,” said Landry, who has participated in relays since 1999 and recently lost her sister Peggy Shaw to cancer. “You can write a check and that’s one thing, but you can give your time, and I feel like that’s from the heart.”
Lisa McKenna, the second co-chair of the Relay For Life of Franklin County’s planning committee, said she’d like to make the fall rally an annual event. The kickoff event for 2017’s Relay For Life will be held Jan. 21.