For the first time ever, Lakeland Regional High School’s Service Club is hosting a Relay for Life (RFL) on Saturday, May 20, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., thanks to the efforts of the club’s members and advisor, Ms. Brenda Ferguson.

Service Club officer Giavanna Cafasso told The Ledger, “Our main goal for this event is to hit our goal of $5,000 and to just bring awareness to cancer. Nowadays most people know what cancer is and when you hear the word cancer you most likely think of breast cancer but most people don’t know that there are 100s of different kinds of cancer.” Some of her goals this year for the relay are to show appreciation for anyone who has ever had or currently has cancer, care members for patients, and families.

During the RFL event, volunteers, local survivors, and caregivers are brought together and welcomed to walk around the event’s track and carry luminaria bags. These bags represent anyone who has lost someone to cancer, survived cancer, or taken care of someone who had/has cancer. Each participant is given one of these bags and at the end of the event they are placed around the track and lit in order to honor those who have battled with cancer.

Ms. Ferguson encourages members of the LRHS community to sign up and create a team for the event, which will be following a Color Wars theme. The registration fee is $15 per participant. Once the teams are created and secured, they will receive a ‘“campsite”’ where they will have the opportunity to help raise additional money for the ACS.

Ideally, Ms. Ferguson and her Service Club members “would love to have as many students, teams, clubs, and community members” as possible partake in the relay. However, both Ms. Ferguson and the Service Club understand that not everyone will be able to attend the event or commit to its entire duration. But community members can still help support the event even if these inconveniences come into play. Ms. Ferguson explained to the Ledger, “If anyone would like to support the ACS but cannot attend on May 20th, they can make a donation to one of our teams, dedicate a luminaria in memory of someone who lost their battle to cancer, make cards in support of cancer patients which we will deliver, & help us spread the word about the event through social media.”

For anyone who cannot attend they can always help by, donating to existing teams, help promote the event and spread the word on social media platforms, make “non-monetary donations” like making cards for survivors or donating snacks and waters for the day of the relay, and/or volunteer to help out during the event, like during the set up or clean up.

RFL is a community based fundraising service that helps raise money for the American Cancer Society. All profits made from the event go to the ACS. According to the ACS, Relay for Life is “the world’s largest volunteer-based fundraising event. For more than 36 years, communities across the world have come together to honor and remember loved ones and take action for lifesaving change.”

Ms. Ferguson and the Service Club are beyond excited to host this event and encourage all Lakeland students and community members to help support the event in some way. Whether this means attending the event, volunteering during the relay, or helping spread the word, the RFL is a great time to get involved and support a great cause. For more information about the event and creating teams, check out Lakeland’s RFL website or contact Ms. Ferguson directly.