Volunteers wrap up Relay for Life
Rich Belan (left) of McClellandtown and Bryan Rose of Uniontown disassemble the HOPE sign Sunday morning during the Fayette County Relay for Life event at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Participants take a final lap and applaud the 2011Fayette County Relay for Life event Sunday morning at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Cassie Collins, 2011 Fayette County Relay for Life ambassador, is surrounded by other former ambassdors as she carries the torch Sunday morning at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. Others (from left) are Shelley Ralston of Uniontown; Michael Santore of Mt. Airy, Md, representing his late brother Jason Santore; Lisa Rose, co-chairman of Relay for Life event;Don Bell Jr and Don Bell Sr. of Uniontown.
Shelley Ralston (right) of Uniontown, a member of the Fayette Striders and a 13-year cancer survivor, passes the torch to Cassie Collins, the 2011 Relay for Life Ambassador, at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus Sunday morning prior to the closing of this year's event.
Shelley Ralston (right) of Uniontown, a member of the Fayette Striders and a 13-year cancer survivor, carries the torch along with other members of the Fayette Striders and Uniontown Area High School Cross-Country team members as they arrive for the Realy For Life event Sunday morning at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Early morning rains gave way to blue skies and sun as volunteers wrapped up the 17th annual American Cancer Society Relay For Life at Penn State Fayette The Eberly Campus.
The 24-hour event wound down as members of the Fayette Striders were joined by members of local high school cross country teams for the Torch of Hope run from Laurel Highlands High School to the campus.
Cancer survivor Shelley Ralston led the runners for the 12th consecutive year, and handed the torch to Cassie Collins, who led a group of past RFL ambassadors for several laps around the camp area.
Co-chairs Barbara Yalich-Fike and Ed Kustron announced the start of the 9 a.m. Torch of Hope run from LHHS. The runners arrived at the campus just after 10 a.m. and followed Ralston to the front of the track.
Ralston said that what she felt while approaching applauding volunteers and campers “is tough to put into words. It’s an exhilarating feeling. I’m in total awe to see all the people who are here supporting a great cause. It gets better every year. A lot of family and friends come out.”
Event co-chair Lisa Rose said she was awake all night and hadn’t slept. “It rained around 4:30 a.m. and people were still walking as hard as it rained. We call the rain tears from heaven,” Rose said.
She said that many people don’t realize how many types of cancer exist that include various forms of childhood cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer among many others. Rose said she was diagnosed with breast cancer in October of 2005 and still undergoes chemotherapy treatments. “So far, everything is good,” she said.
The heavy rainfall that arrived in the Fayette County area in the morning hours caused a few tents to collapse throughout the campsite and forced some participants indoors for a brief period of time. But the inclement weather never dampened the spirits of those who came to celebrated survival, memories, and hope for future cures and progress in the fight against cancer.
Kustron announced that in the past 16 years, the Fayette County Relay For Life has raised over $2 million, and that $3 billion has been raised on the national level.
“There are 11 million cancer survivors in America alone,” Kustron said. “Until cancer is defeated the American Cancer Society and volunteers cannot rest. We have to keep moving against cancer one victim at a time.”
Yalich-Fike said the ACS has set a goal of reducing cancer’s mortality rate to 50 percent by 2015.
“The quality of life for cancer survivors in our society has shown meaningful improvement,” she said.
Neal Gearhart, ACS income development representative, said final contribution totals will be completed early this week. “We’re trying to raise close to $145,000,” he said. “We had 55 camps, and that’s actually up by 10 from last year. We had more registered participants this year as well.”
Gearhart said many of the families and participants use Relay For Life as an annual reunion in which they can spend quality time together and catch up on everyone’s experiences since last year’s event.
A meeting to wrap up the year for committee members will take place in September.