Relaying hope

Eric Leake

Monday, Feb. 14, 2005 | 9:25 a.m.

The feeling at the Relay for Life of West Valley kickoff last week was that of preparing for both a battle and a block party.

Organizers and a handful of participants in the upcoming relay to benefit the American Cancer Society -- one of a dozen such local efforts -- met Wednesday to discuss plans for raising money to fight cancer and how to make the best of their time spent on the effort.

For survivor volunteer and grandmother Sharon King, 65, the fight is personal.

"If I hadn't survived, hadn't had the research and treatment, I wouldn't have known any of my 10 grandchildren," King said.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer 23 years ago. Though she lived and found a new appreciation for life, cancer has claimed the lives of her grandmother, mother and husband.

"I'm a survivor," King said before the kickoff began. "I don't want my granddaughter, this beautiful girl, to have to go through this."

In the bleachers were 16-year-old Krystal Sullivan, King's granddaughter, and her friend. Both their families have felt the killing touch of cancer, so they had decided to rally and enter their own team in the relay.

Relay for Life teams generally consist of eight to 12 members who take turns walking around a track during the relay, which lasts 12 to 24 hours depending upon the particular event. Teams may pitch tents around the track. Games, performances, or other activities are planned throughout the night.

Sullivan and her friend Melissa Malloy, also 16, planned to get their Wahine Volley Ball Club team involved.

"The girls in our team will definitely be interested and want to do it," Malloy said. "With all of us doing it, it'll be fun."

Malloy said she would walk in honor of her aunt who died of cancer.

"As many people as are touched by cancer, they change a lot. It changed people and it changed me," Malloy said. "You definitely have a new perspective in life."

Though they literally walk around in circles for hours, participants in the relays do make progress: They raise money through donations, sponsors, promotions and other activities.

More than 4,000 relays were held nationwide in 2004, raising $304 million for American Cancer Society efforts in funding research for a cure and helping people cope with cancer, according to society figures.

Relay for Life has become the American Cancer Society's signature event, media relations manager Paulette Anderson said. In addition to raising money, it honors those who have lost their lives and those who have overcome cancer.

"We say the words 'Celebration of life,' but it really is that," Anderson said.

She encouraged people to participate in a relay, saying that cancer affects everyone in some way.

Last year in Nevada more than 4,530 people died of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, and nearly 11,000 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed this year.

An arc of luminarias -- paper bags filled with sand and a candle -- was spread across the gym floor at the Relay for Life of West Valley kickoff. The bags bear the names and sometimes photos of husbands, wives, children, friends who fought cancer.

After dark in every Relay for Life, the candles in the bags are lit along the route and people take to the track in honor of the names that light the way.

"It's a very touching moment and people cry," King said. "Then after the crying we have fun. It's like, OK, we go on with life."

The Relay for Life of West Valley will be held April 30 to May 1, 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., at the track at Palo Verde High School.

That relay is one of roughly a dozen to be held locally in the coming months. Kickoff events are happening now. To participate or for more information, call the American Cancer Society at 798-6877.

General information and help in confronting cancer is available at 1-800-ACS-2345 or www.cancer.org.