Relay For Life is next week
Wally Gallian

"The American Cancer Society is the nation-wide community based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service."

Monday night, the Emanuel County American Cancer Society Relay for Life held their annual survivor dinner in the Richard L. Brown Room of East Georgia College. The event was sponsored by Emanuel Medical Center and Emanuel County Planning Committee. Under the direction of Connie Page, local 4-H volunteers Jessica and Paige Moore and Laura and Anna Ellis helped the hospital staff serve the honored guests.

Opening remarks were by Brandi Hudson and the invocation was delivered by Drake Oglesby. Co-founder of Relay For Life in Emanuel County Chuck Wofford gave the official welcome. Wofford and his late wife Marie started this most important fund-raiser in our county.

Several years ago, I remember being invited to a planning meeting for the first Relay in Emanuel County. A handful of people attended and only a couple of us had ever been to or even heard of Relay For Life. Marie and Chuck hit the ground running and, within a few days of that initial meeting, they had a date for the Relay, a place to hold it, committees set up, teams in place and a bevy of people working towards the cure. That first year, the goal was to raise a lofty $25,000. When the donations were counted, the total was over $80,000.

Truly a community wide event, Relay For Life brings together folks from all ages and all backgrounds for a common cause.

Deanna T. Moore introduced the speaker for the evening, Linda D. Lamb. Linda has been an avid supporter of Relay For Life since its inception in Emanuel County.

Emanuel County's annual Relay For Life Celebration will be held Friday, April 18 at Tiger Field. This fundraising event has been a huge success in our county for several years. The theme this year is "Tooning Out Cancer." Corporate volunteers, church groups and individuals will gather once again on this special night to celebrate life and raise funds towards finding a cure for cancer.

good citizens of Emanuel County raise well over $100,000 each year in the fight against this most dreaded disease. This is an amazing amount of money and is a tribute to the kind of folks that call Emanuel County home. Roughly more than $5 per capita is raised each year.

Entering their second year as coordinators are Deborah and Harry Martin. Deborah and Harry have done an excellent job improving on a community project that already was a huge success.

Please join your friends and neighbors for Relay For Life on Friday, April 18 at Tiger Field. Most people here have attended before and know what a fun and inspirational evening to expect. There are people to visit, fun games to play and good food to eat. More importantly, there is a sense of doing something positive to benefit people that are suffering. Opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. Bring your family, bring your community spirit, and bring your donation.

Wally Gallian is publisher of The Forest-Blade and can be reached at wgallian@forest-blade.com

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