Monday, May 19, 2014

Relay for Life 2014

On Friday night, myself and over 1,000 of my closest friends came together for our local Relay for Life event!

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This year’s theme was “Finish the Fight” and was my first official year to participate on the planning committee. Despite a few last minute hiccups (that no one would know about unless they were told), it all came together for a beautiful event!

Relay for Life is not a race – it’s an overnight fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. Most of these events are held around a track and teams are encouraged to have a team member walking the track all night long (hence the “relay” part of it).

Here’s recaps of previous years:

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The reason we continue to fight – for current and future survivors – they were given the honor of walking the opening lap.

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Our team joined in for the Caregiver and Team laps.

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See that guy in my hand? That’s Todd…aka #FlatTodd.

Todd is our Team Captain (and boss) and has been at every Relay for Life event for the past 15+ years. (Everyone knows Todd.) His daughter graduated from LSU this year ON Relay night, so he was unable to make the event (obviously). Our chair had the idea to make a “Flat Todd” and it all went from there. He was a big hit!!

Relay for Life 2014

Our tent decorations were from a 1st Birthday party circus theme – I edited them to fit our 2014 theme, “Birthdays Under the Big Top”.  That tiger once had a “1” on his hat!

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Coworkers

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My parents :0)

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I loved walking around, seeing all of the positive and uplifting signs/banners!

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Perhaps the most touching moment of any Relay event is the luminaria ceremony.

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Bags created in honor or memory of a loved one were placed all around the track to form a giant circle of hope. The bags were filled with sand and a tea light.

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This was my Grandfather’s bag – he passed away from lung cancer in 2000. He’s also part of the reason I began working in Oncology.

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This bag brought me to tears. On the front was a photo of a young mom with two kids – stories like this just break my heart.

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After the luminaria ceremony, I walked around and enjoyed a little dessert! A local team created these “birthday cake popcorn balls” and they were delicious!

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This team’s tent was my favorite – they created a “coffee house” feel and actually sold coffee all night long!

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Love him! :0)

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Reunited! This is Ariel, the old Relay staffer for our area and Katie who has now been promoted as “top dog” in the state – not only Louisiana but Arkansas, too! I got friends in high places! (Kidding….)

Our Relay has a carnival-like atmosphere which is typical for a Louisiana event and draws a large crowd! A graduation was held at the same location (inside) and after graduation, family and friends came through the event and ate dinner. I haven’t heard if we reached goal yet, but I know we had a lot of teams who worked hard to fundraise for ACS!

The 2014 event chair (Erin – who is also a survivor…whoop!) put endless hours of work into making sure our Relay was a success….same to Rosa, our new area staff! Congrats to everyone on such an amazing event!

Are you involved with a non-profit? What are your big fundraising events?

5 comments:

  1. It looks like a fun event for a great cause!

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  2. What an awesome and emotional event! That is wonderful you were able to be on the planning committee and walk the opening lap! I hope you reached your fundraising goal!

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  3. I am not involved with a non-profit like that, but I work for a school that is a non-profit.

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  4. Such an awesome event to participate in and a great cause to support! Congrats on a successful night!

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  5. I was a bridesmaid in a wedding here and LOVED the space. Huge bar/cocktail area, big dinner area, fun dance floor, and lots of pretty, open space. The rooftop ain't too shabby, either.

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