Relay for life on track for June

On June 27 the community will come together to celebrate hope and raise funds during the sixth annual Stephenville Relay for Life.

Event chair Deb Jones has been involved with the relay since its first year and says as the event continues to grow, so does support from the community.

"We have some of the highest numbers of volunteers of any relay," she says. " People want to volunteer. Be it for three or four hours or for months."

Last year's relay raised over $52,000 and Ms. Jones says the committee would love to surpass that amount this year, but they'll be realistic about the fact they may not, in light of the economy.

"I think you have to be realistic for a town this size and that what we do per capita is really, really good, the money that we raise."

A goal of the committee is to try to attract more youth to the event each year - the number of participants Ms. Jones says continues to grow.

"It's very important because that's who's going to be running it eventually," she says. "On a personal level I think the volunteerism is so important, and to get them involved with something that affects everybody. They're at an age now where they're even seeing first hand a loved one or even friends that have suffered with cancer."

Some of the funds raised through the annual cancer fundraiser will support the Canadian Cancer Society's Daffodil Place in St. John's, slated to open within the next few months.

The committee recently held a successful recruitment night in the community during which Ms. Jones estimates about 13 teams registered. She says the committee expects this number to grow closer to the event.

There's still time to enter a team or to sign up to volunteer. To get involved you can check out the relay's page on Facebook, or contact Dianna Kung at 643-5923 or Marlene Simms at 643-4370.