Students Begin Planning for Relay for Life

Some people walked in memory of a parent, some for a friend. Survivors made their way around the track, their heads held high. Others just walked because they thought it was the right thing to do.

Hundreds of people participated in the student-run Relay for Life at . Dozens of students from Valley and met recently to kick off this year’s event.

“We want to raise the bar this year,” said Quinn Fohlinger, a senior at Wayne Hills said. Fohlinger’s mom Carrier is 6-year breast cancer survivor.  “We’ve got to band together, all of us, students and the entire community, to fight this disease.”

Relay for Life is an annual national event. Teams of people camp out around a running track in a public place, usually a school or park. Members from each team take turns walking around the track for the duration of the event. Cancer survivors walk around the track first by themselves.

After sunset, a Luminaria ceremony is held. Candles are lit inside bags filled with sand that are placed around the track. Messages from victims’ friends and family members, and survivors are written on each bag. Participants often walk the lap in silence.  Students wrote messages on their Luminaria bags during the kick-off event.

This year’s relay will be held from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m. on May 12 through 13 at Wayne Valley.

According to the event’s Web site, 23 teams comprised of 167 people have signed up to participate; $905 has been raised so far.

 “I could remember sitting in the operating room and my mother saying to me, ‘I’ll see you soon’,” Leigh Barrie, a Wayne resident and brain cancer survivor said at last year’s event. “I knew what was going on. I was old enough to understand how serious it was,” Barrie said. “I grew up a lot because of what I went through, but I try not to let my cancer define me. I’ve learned to celebrate the fact that I’m a survivor.”

For more information, visit the event’s Web site, call 201-457-3418, ext. 2231 or send an e-mail to: wayne.relay@cancer.org.