Relay for Life 2015

Friday night was our area’s 2015 Relay for Life. A few changes were made this year that I think were for the better – one of those changes being the time range of the event. Instead of relaying until 6 a.m., we stopped at midnight and held our closing ceremonies. This was my first time to ever stay all the way until the end (because Saturday morning’s are long run days) and I loved it – the teams seemed to love it, too!

 

Our event was mentioned on the news all throughout the day on  Thursday and Friday. As we were setting up for the event, I was asked to be on the live at 5 broadcast.  If you read Friday’s post, then you know that “live” things freak me out. Well, I did it and all was fine and I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be! Baby steps…I’m getting there!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we have a fantastic committee! Their hard work and dedication to the fight is incredible.

At opening ceremonies, this sweet little survivor shared her leukemia story and sang a song that she wrote while undergoing chemotherapy. There wasn’t a dry eye around, it was incredibly touching. They shouldn’t have to make survivor shirts in kid sizes…that just breaks my heart.

Survivor lap!

My hospital team joined in for the caregiver lap. This portion is one of my favorite parts of Relay – seeing all of the survivors on the track, knowing that our work is making a difference!

Another favorite part of relay is the food. In SWLA, we have GOOD relay food! This isn’t your average ballpark nachos – no, it’s pulled pork nachos…what?! We also had fajitas, fried pickles, crawfish etouffee, burgers, pulled pork wraps with slaw, funnel cakes, a multitude of sweets, the list goes on and on! You definitely don’t leave our relay hungry!

My other favorite part of Relay is the luminiaria ceremony. OK OK I’ll admit, I just love it ALL!!

Our committee had a vision of “Hope” spelled out somewhere on our grounds. As an “ah-ha” moment, our logistics chair came up with this idea literally the night before. Isn’t it amazing?! You could see it all the way at the road!

During the luminaria ceremony, bags and torches are lit in memory of those who lost their battle and in honor of those who are continuing the fight. All of the generators and lights are turned off and you can literally hear a pin drop. It’s such a touching time to remember and reflect.

My grandfather passed away from lung cancer in 2000 and that’s part of the reason I went into oncology nursing. I also make a luminaria bag for him every year. He loved flowers and used to always give a handful of sweet peas to me every time I went to visit, hence the field of sweet peas on this year’s bag! :)

Before I knew it, midnight rolled around and it was time for closing ceremonies! I love this picture – our MC’s took selfies at opening and closing!

Walking the final lap of the night.

Melissa so graciously agreed to spend part of her birthday weekend with us by keeping track of our accounting for the night! I appreciate her so much!

I made it home and in bed around 2 a.m. , woke up at 7 a.m. for a run with Heather, then went back to bed and woke up at 2 p.m. Y’all, I was TIRED…but it was worth every step!!

Does your area have a Relay for Life? If so, have you ever attended/been a part?

2014 Relay for Life National Summit

This past weekend, Relay for Life Leadership from all over the nation came together in Dallas, Texas for a time of training and networking, with a little fun thrown in between!

What is Relay for Life, you might ask? Well, it’s not a race…nor a 5K…it’s an overnight event that was created to fight cancer. The idea behind Relay for Life began with the concept, “cancer never sleeps”. During a cancer journey, patients can’t escape the side effects and symptoms that their cancer brings to them – so for one night each year, teams all over the world gather together to relay. During each event, relayers celebrate survivors, remember those who have been lost to this disease, and fight back for future generations. Most Relay for Life events are held at a track and each team takes turns walking the track – the “relay” side is that each team should have one person walking the track throughout the entire event. Our hope is that we can finish the fight and end this terrible disease.

Ok…back to the conference! :)

The 2015 Summit was held at the Hilton Anatole in downtown Dallas.

This was a gorgeous hotel and I loved the lobby, complete with infinity pools!

The lobby was very pretty at night, too!

We arrived at Summit a little later than expected, so we headed straight for the conference and checked into our room a few hours later.

Throughout the Summit, we heard from inspiring speakers, survivors, and Relay for Life Hall of Famers – many tears were shed over the course of the weekend! Dr. Gordy Klatt, the founder of Relay for Life passed away in August from complications related to gastric cancer. We spent several moments over the weekend remembering his life and honoring the legacy he left behind.

On Friday and Saturday, we also broke into workshops where we shared and discussed ideas among each other. Networking was one of my favorite parts of Summit – I loved gaining fresh and new ideas from other top teams in the nation!

On Friday night, we participated in the Live broadcast of the Relay for Life 2015 Kick-off party – floor director and all!

After the broadcast, the party began! (An 80’s party, that is!)

Before long, Pac-Man Ghosts were running all over the room! No, really…those ghosts were the ACS Mid-South Division representatives! :) Aren’t we cute?

I loved the big hair, bright colors, and glow sticks…I even saw a Conga line break out!

On Saturday morning, I woke up early and made my way to the outdoor track for a quick 2 mile run.

I’ve never seen a “real” outdoor track at a hotel, and I loved it!

I also repped my ACS DetermiNation shirt during my run! :)

We celebrated Relay for Life’s 30th Birthday all weekend!

I had a fantastic time and enjoyed spending the weekend with good friends! I also really enjoyed Summit and hope to bring new ideas and ways to enhance our current Relay for Life event!

My name is Karen, I’m an Oncology Nurse, I’ve been relaying since 2007, and I’m proud to say that Relay is 30 years strong! Happy birthday, Relay for Life!

What’s the most exciting/favorite place you’ve ever visited for a conference?

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!

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:

• Relay for Life 2011
• Relay for Life 2012
• Relay for Life 2013
• Relay for Life of Terrebonne Parish 2014

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

Our team joined in for the Caregiver and Team laps.

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!!

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!

Coworkers

My parents :0)

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

Love him! :0)

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?

2014 Bark for Life SWLA

This past weekend, our area held its 2nd Annual Bark for Life event with the American Cancer Society.

Just like humans, our canine friends can be affected by cancer, too. This event is to fight back against all forms of cancer and honors the caregiving qualities of our sweet and loyal furry friends.

Bark for Life is a much smaller version of Relay for Life  and involves animals. Our Bark for Life is a 3 hour daytime event and includes fun and games for dogs and kids alike. (If you aren’t familiar with Relay for Life, it’s a worldwide event put on by the American Cancer Society and is the largest overnight event in the world, raising millions of dollars for cancer research each year.)

Leading up to the event, I was incredibly worried about the weather. Last year, it was misty/rainy the entire time, so I was hoping for a better outcome this time around.

Friday night, a huge storm rolled through our area and stopped us from setting up ahead of time. Thankfully, we allotted plenty of time on Saturday morning to set everything up and before I knew it, we were well on our way into the event!  The only hitch with the weather this year was the wind. Tents that were held down with tent stakes were even uprooted from the ground. It was craziness. At least the sun was out – it was definitely nice to see the sun!

Pixie came out to play this year!

The city declared March 29th as “Bark for Life Day”!

Our emcee for the event was a local news morning show meteorologist – he did an awesome job!

This is Lil Bit. She’s our official 2014 survivor pet and was diagnosed with breast cancer several months ago.  Our pet/human survivors walked the first lap of the track and were followed by the caregivers/supporters.

We had a boneyard set up to honor and remember our special canine friends who have crossed over to the rainbow bridge.

The winner of our pet costume contest was Buddy. He’s a rescue and is one of the sweetest dogs you will ever meet…the total opposite of his costume!

Throughout the morning, we had several guest speakers – a local Pet Therapy group and the K-9 Unit. Both were great!

We also had egg races and an Easter egg hunt for the kids!

Lil Bit won the raffle basket and is completely deserving of every item inside. My heart goes out to this sweet baby and her momma.

My work group was a huge support – they are awesome and I was glad to have them out there at the event!

We would not have been able to hold this event without our wonderful volunteers and committee!

I appreciate each and every one of them, more than they will ever know!

Another year down…can’t wait to see what Bark for Life 2015 has in store!

Have you ever participated in Relay for Life?