•T he I FP • H al to n H ill s •T hu rs da y, M ay 2 3, 2 01 3 22 SPOTLIGHT... on Cancer Society's Relay For Life Relay For Life is the biggest cancer event that makes the biggest difference and takes place all over the country ev- ery year in June. This year the Georgetown Relay For Life will take place at 7 p.m. May 31 to 7 a.m. June 1 at the Croatian Centre Church, 9078 Winston Churchill, Nor- val. The Canadian Cancer Society's Relay For Life is a 12-hour non-competitive relay and an opportunity to get togeth- er with family and friends to celebrate cancer survivors, remember those lost to cancer and fight back against this devastating disease. Last year, the Georgetown Community Relay raised $100,000. For four years Team Bison (Trans- port) has been participating at Relay For Life Georgetown. Team Captain and former Relay for Life committee member, Shannon McCormick, writes about the experience below: We relay as a team because we have all been affected by cancer in some way. Bison team members see the effects all the time whether it is a family member, friend or just someone they know. Be- ing able to help out a bit to fight against cancer keeps us coming back every year. Not only do we put a team in the Re- lay each year, Bison Transport provides a refrigerated truck to keep the food and beverages cool free of charge. Bison Transport fundraises as a team-- a car wash, Dress Down Days at work, Pizza Days, raffles at Christmas time-- the list is endless. Bison's goal was to raise $15,000, and to date we've raised $13,157.20. The Relay is not just a walk, it is an experience. We experience just a little bit of what a cancer patient goes through by walking through the night. We have friends and family who join us in this fight against this horrible thing called cancer. Every year there is the luminary ceremony-- special candles that are placed in bags and carry the names of cancer survivors and loved ones lost. In a moving ceremony after sunset, lu- minaries placed around the track are lit in honour of cancer survivors and in memory of those who have lost the battle against cancer-- it is unforget- table as well as the pipers who lead the survivors around the first lap. Relay is a social experience too as, during the night, you can walk around to see everyone and their decorated sites. It is nice to spend time and not just do a walk and then go home. The Relay For Life is a way for cancer survivors to feel good about themselves and to know that they are not in this fight alone. There is a whole commu- nity of people who are there for them. What we do at the Relay really makes a difference to someone fighting a battle with cancer. Bison team members are McCor- mick, Keith Francis, Sarah Gibson, Pat- rick Hogan, Erin Main, Grant Naslund, Maryann Sneyd, Norm Sneyd, Julia Street and Lisa Wagg. For more on Team Bison's fundrais- ing efforts go to http://convio.cancer. ca/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFL_ON_ odd_?team_id=282515&pg=team&fr_ id=12417 Sponsors of this year's Relay for Life event are: Cogeco, Domino's Pizza, Pita Pit, McDonald's, Bison, Pancake Fac- tory and the Royal Canadian Legion. Celebrate your personal victory against cancer by joining free of charge, in the Survivor's Victory lap and special dinner banquet by calling 905-608-8411 or register online at: www.relayforlife. ca/georgetown For more information or to register a team, please contact Jennifer Tremaine- Gallagher at 905-608-8411 ext. 3827 or email at: jtremaine@ontario.cancer.ca As a breast cancer survivor, I partici- pate in Relay For Life. As the mother of a daughter and son who have cancer on both sides of their family, I participate in Relay For Life. To honour all those cancer patients that I met on my cancer journey, I par- ticipate in Relay For Life. As the mother of a daughter who has received the HPV vaccine to greatly reduce her chances of getting cervical cancer, thanks to cancer research, I participate in Relay For Life. As the wife of someone who has had three women he loved diagnosed with breast cancer, I participate in Relay For Life. To remember everyone I have met and lost to cancer, I participate in Relay For Life. To celebrate friends and family who have conquered cancer, I participate in Relay For Life I stay up all night to fight cancer because cancer does not sleep so I par- ticipate in Relay For Life. Cancer does not define me, but how I live and fight with cancer DOES define me, so I participate in Relay For Life. My mother told me to "Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way!" so I participate in Relay For Life. I only have one breast, the other one tried to KILL me, so I participate in Relay For Life. Cancer is a word, not a sentence, so I participate in Relay For Life. Please donate, join my team, start your own team or go get a Ph.D. in Immunology and find a cure for cancer. Take your pick, but do at least one of these. Janet Hanlin, team captain, SOCK IT TO CANCER Bison team looks forward to Relay Why I Relay