WEST ORANGE, NJ — Relay for Life, the annual American Cancer Society event at which people raise money and awareness for cancer treatment by walking around a track all night, officially launched in West Orange with a kick-off ceremony at the Codey Arena on Feb. 25, roughly two months before the actual fundraiser takes place.
Attendees interested in participating learned about what will take place when Relay is held at West Orange High School on May 20, and also picked up tips on how their teams can raise funds in the weeks leading up to the event. And although the initiative has just begun, the teams are off to a respectable start; according to the Relay website, 24 teams have already collected $3,184.48 as of press time March 1.
That is good news to event organizer Lisa Renwick, who said the campaign’s goal is to raise at least $53,000 this year. Having been a part of relay for three years as well as Susan G. Komen for five years before that, Renwick said she has known numerous people who have lost their battles with cancer. That is why it is important to her to support the ACS through this initiative and why she is urging others to do the same.
“We all know someone who’s been affected or touched by cancer,” Renwick told the West Orange Chronicle during the kickoff. “I feel like we have to do the fight for the people who we’ve lost. We have to continue fighting this battle so that in my daughter’s lifetime it will be a world without cancer.”
Supporting Relay for Life is a powerful way to work toward that goal. Deemed the largest fundraiser in history, the initiative has raised nearly $5 billion for the ACS since launching in 1986, and has spread to 20 countries and more than 5,200 communities. That money benefits the organization’s longstanding commitment to funding cancer research, with the organization investing more than $4.3 billion since 1946 and more than $1 million currently invested in New Jersey research grants alone. It also funds the many ACS programs helping cancer patients, such as the initiatives that provided lodging to 480 New Jersey patients and caregivers and offered more than 2,729 rides so that cancer sufferers in New Jersey can get to and from treatment.
Even with these successes, the ACS is still facing an uphill battle. According to the organization’s statistics, approximately 1,685,210 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2016, and roughly 595,690 Americans are expected to die of the disease this year. Still, the ACS is making significant progress. Thanks in part to breakthroughs brought about by the ACS-funded research, U.S. cancer rates are down 22 percent since 1991, with more than 1.5 million lives saved.
Alex Baron has a personal stake in seeing a reduction in cancer deaths, especially through the efforts of Relay. As a teen 15 years ago Baron was devastated to learn that he had testicular cancer and, even after undergoing surgery to remove it, struggled to cope with what he had been through. But then he got involved with Relay and, as he recalled in his survivor’s speech, his life completely turned around.
Speaking with the Chronicle at the event, Baron said Relay is important to him today, so much so that he has attained the role of “experience chairman” for the event. The campaign helped him through one of the most difficult experiences of his life, and he said it continues to offer support.
“As a survivor, seeing other people who have had a similar experience makes me feel like I’m not alone and makes me feel there are other people who want to do something about (ending cancer),” Baron said during the event. “It’s just an amazing feeling.”
Baron and his wife Jessica Gaeta have so far raised $1,595 this year through captaining Team Mama Gaeta, named in honor of Gaeta’s mother who died of cancer while Gaeta was in college. Gaeta told the Chronicle that participating in Relay for the past 10 years has helped her deal with her loss since it is the “biggest support group you can find for cancer caregivers.” She added that supporting the ACS is the best stand one can take against cancer.
“The American Cancer Society is actually finding the cure for cancer,” Gaeta, who serves as the event’s entertainment and activities chairwoman, said at the kickoff. “Sometimes these diseases seem bigger than us, but if everybody pitches in and helps a little bit we can actually conquer cancer. And I think, with the money raised and the people who participate in Relay for Life, we can really change the face of cancer as a disease.”
Many people who attended the Relay kickoff have already started doing their part for the cause. Two WOHS students as well as the young son of a WOHS art teacher have recently been diagnosed with the disease, so the local effort includes numerous local teens. In fact, WOHS student Maddie Touzeau’s team, The Holy Walkamolies, has already raised $565.
Meanwhile, WOHS students Anusha Sivendra and Julianne Newman are participating in the Purple Penguins T-shirt campaign, which sells specially designed shirts through Booster.com to raise money for Relay. Sivendra and Newman said they have collected approximately $170 in sales so far, though they hope to earn at least $2,000. They said participating in Relay is a chance to benefit a great cause while having fun with friends in an uplifting event.
The Lillis family is captaining a Relay team for the first time this year, though they are no strangers to supporting cancer awareness. For the past five years, seventh-grader Cory Lillis has grown and cut his hair for Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program in honor of Pleasantdale Elementary School teacher Theresa Garrison, who has cancer. After his most recent haircut — which took place during Liberty Middle School’s faculty-student basketball game — Cory said it feels good knowing he is doing something to make a difference. And his mother, Alyse, is happy to see her son dedicate himself to such a meaningful cause.
“Not too many 10-, 11-, 12-year-old boys would go out of their way to do that,” Lillis said. “I’m so proud he stuck with it.”
Seeing so many West Orange community members getting involved with a cause like Relay is gratifying to Councilman Jerry Guarino. He has become involved with the initiative for the past several years and said participating in townwide causes is important to him. As such, he said he hopes to see even more people join Relay this year.
“You can’t just exist in the community, you need to be part of the community,” Guarino told the Chronicle at the event. “And this is a way of helping our neighbors who either are suffering or have family members or good friends who are suffering from this terrible disease. It’s some way to give comfort and show support and raise awareness and raise funds to keep the fight going.”
Kyra Miller, an ACS community manager, was also impressed by the turnout. Then again, Miller told the Chronicle the township — whose residents have collectively donated approximately $1 million to the ACS through past events, according to Renwick — never fails to come together for Relay. And she encourages the community to do the same for the 2016 event.
They will not regret it, Miller said.
“It’s an experience,” Miller said at the kickoff. “While you’re having fun, you’re also able to give back to your community and support others.
“And that’s really, at the end of the day, what Relay is all about,” she continued. “We’re able to support the community in a way that no one else really is.”
To learn more about the West Orange Relay for Life, visit here.
Photos by Sean Quinn
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