American Cancer Society Relay for Life Helps Community Fight Back Against Cancer – LIVING WELL Magazine

American Cancer Society Relay For Life Helps Community Fight Back Against Cancer

By Rhonda Hollen, American Cancer Society, Northshore LIVING WELL Magazine 

The American Cancer Society is looking for committee members to be a part of the 2012 Relay For Life events on the Northshore. People interested in being a part of a committee will be a part of the community’s biggest effort to fight cancer.

Relay For Life events are held at an athletic track, park or other gathering area, with the goal of keeping at least one team member on the track or pathway at all times. Teams do most of their fundraising prior to the event, but some teams also hold creative fundraisers at their camp sites during Relay. Relay brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools and faith-based groups all aimed at furthering the American Cancer Society’s efforts to save lives by helping people stay well, by helping people get well, by finding cures and by fighting back.

In the last year, the dollars raised by Relay For Life events provided more than 47,000 services for over 6,000 people diagnosed with cancer in southeast Louisiana, including:

  • College scholarships in the amount of $1,000 to childhood cancer survivors, including 16 scholarships to students in southeast Louisiana.
  • 524 women in southeast Louisiana were provided with beauty tools and tips to help minimize the appearance-related side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, including a free cosmetic kit valued at $250, through our Look Good…Feel Better program.
  • 381 women in southeast Louisiana received support from a trained breast cancer survivor in our Reach to Recovery program.
  • More than 60 cancer patients received 1,403 free trips to cancer treatment in our Road to Recovery program.

With the funds raised through Relay For Life of South Tangipahoa, these and other programs can be provided to more cancer patients. For information about joining the committee or donating to the event, call 1-800-227-2345 or visit RelayForLife.org.