Out-of-Door Academy to host second Relay for Life in April
Almost 200 students, parents and faculty will gather on The Out-of-Door Academy football field on April 26 to support cancer awareness. In an overnight walking event, 23 teams will walk, play, and celebrate life all in the name of a cure for cancer.
The annual American Cancer Society event, Relay for Life, happens all around the country. From colleges, to high schools, from small towns to big cities, everyone in encouraged to host a Relay and help save a life. Last year was the first Relay hosted on the new Out-of-Door football field and with 300 attendees $50,000 was raised, 20 percent of all Sarasota Relays for Life proceeds.
Each year Relay venues choose a theme for the walk-a-thon. ODA has chosen movies and 23 teams have registered, each with a unique movie-themed name. With teams such as Toy Story: Sending Cancer to Infinity and Beyond, Harry Potter and the Cure for Cancer, and Pirates of the Cure-a-bbean this years event is sure to be a riot. Games and contests will be based around the movie theme and each team will dress themselves and their booths to fit their movie. Not only do Relayers raise money before the event, but each team must have a booth and special items to sell, that tie into their movie of course.
Relay for life started out as one man’s goal to raise cancer awareness in his community. In May 1985 Dr. Gordon Klatt from Tacoma, Wash., decided he wanted to raise money for the American Cancer Society in honor of his patients.
Klatt’s plan was to walk around Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound. Throughout his 83-mile walk, friends paid $25 for every 30 minutes they walked or ran with him.
Nearly 300 people watched as Klatt made his way to $27,000.
After the success of his personal relay, Klatt sent a small team to organize the first Relay for Life in 1986. Since then Relay for Life has become a huge, overnight event where supporters camp out at their venue in tents.
Now, nearly 4 million people of all ages in over 5,000 communities across the country take part in Relay. The event brings together the community, remembers those lost to cancer and honors those who have survived.
Each Relay event is unique but they all do carry the same traditions. Each event is generally kicked off by a survivors’ dinner to honor those who have battled and are battling cancer, followed by the survivors’ lap, which is the official start to the events.
Survivors are a large part of the relay community but it is those lost that have the biggest impact. A luminaria ceremony is held after dark during each Relay to honor loved ones lost. Candles are put in paper bags, decorated by a victim’s family on one side and placed around the track of the Relay.
Sometimes, all the bags spell out words such as ‘hope’ and ‘cure’. Every participant gathers at that time to pay respects and recognize those gone because of cancer.
Out-of-Door Junior and Relay for Life captain, Robby Polidoro says “Relay is a real help in the fight against cancer we raise thousands of dollars every year and I wanted to do my part by being a captain this year. It’s rewarding to be giving back this year and I think everyone in the community should come out to support.”
To learn more about Relay for Life please visit www.relayforlife.org.
MADELINE CHAIT
Junior, The Out-of-Door Academy
Activities: Journalism class and three-year member of the staff for student newspaper, The Bolt. Junior editor of the yearbook staff. Three-year member of the varsity cheerleading squad. She hopes to pursue journalism as a career in the future.
This story was originally published March 28, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Out-of-Door Academy to host second Relay for Life in April."