Purple is powerful.
That is the message 2014 Relay for Life of Barton County Chairperson Kandi Wolf wants to send as the 2013 Relay wraps up and plans for the 17th installment of the local American Cancer Society-sponsored cancer-fighting event start rolling.
“People have the impression that all the money raised leaves the county and we don’t see any benefits,” Wolf said. “That’s just not the case.”
She challenged everyone to attend a Relay and look for folks wearing purple T-shirts. “Each of those shirts represents a cancer survivor,” she said.
A lot of the money generated by a Relay comes back to the county directly in the form of services for patients. But, most of it goes towards research, including that being done at the University of Kansas, that helps those with cancer locally and across the nation.
The 2013 Relay raised $103,486, missing its $132,000 goal, but that is misleading, Wolf said. This was accomplished with fewer teams, meaning these volunteers worked their tales off.
The top three teams this past year were CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, Great Bend Regional Hospital and Wal-Mart. The top four individuals were Mariann Shook with GBRH, Melissa Ferguson with Wal-Mart, and Margaret Dirks, Sarah Scheideman and Brian Strecker, all with CPI.
Now, Wolf said, its time to focus on the 2014 Relay , set for 6 p.m. June 13 in the Barton County Courthouse Square. Shook will serve as her co-chair.
The goal this year is $112,000. The theme is music from around the world.
“We just want to get the word out about Relay sooner,” Wolf said. Although the first major gathering is the kick-off in January, she wants to let people know they are welcome to become a part of the annual event.
“There are people who would like to get involved but just don’t know where to start,” she said. There are various levels of involvement, ranging from serving on the committee to being a team captain to being a member of a team to merely showing up as a volunteer to help.
“There are lots of options,” she said. All of them are important.
The time, date and location of the kick-off is yet to be announced, but Wolf encourages anyone interested to attend. “They can see what Relay is all about.”
Furthermore, Wolf said, everyone is invited to the Relay itself, whether they are part of the planning or not. “It’s supposed to be a community event.”
Those who attend can’t help but be moved, she said. Each purple T-Shirt tells the story of that individual’s fight with cancer, and many of these stories are shared on Relay night.
However, she said, to make those survivor stories possible, money has to be raised. “Fundraising isn’t all ACS does, but all they do depends on it.”
Since 1985, the ACS’s Relay For Life has grown from one man – colorectal surgeon Dr. Gordy Klatt, who walked, jogged, and ran around a track in Tacoma, Wash., for 24 hours raising money for his local ACS unit. The following year 340 supporters joined Klatt in this overnight event and Relay For Life was born.
Relays now take place in 5,000 communities in the United States and in 20 other countries around the world. More than 3.5 million people participate in the life-changing event, which has raised a total of more than $3 billion to fund the society’s mission.
Barton County falls in the ACS’s High Plains Division, which covers Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, Hawaii and Guam. The Barton County Relay is regularly honored for raising funds and other successes.
For more information on the Barton County Relay , contact Wolf at 620-797-5651, or visit the event’s Facebook page, Relay for Life of Barton County.