Relay for Life to host cancer survivor dinner, annual Relay event in Albany

ALBANY — Relay for Life coordinators are currently working to bring to reality two events meant to celebrate the additional birthdays cancer survivors have been blessed to receive, as well as memorialize those who have been lost to the illness.

For the first event, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Dougherty/Lee Counties and First Baptist Church of Albany are inviting cancer survivors and their caregivers to attend an annual celebration of life and hope at a cancer survivor dinner on Tuesday.

First Baptist Church will host the annual ACS Survivors’ Celebration at its campus at 145 Oakland Parkway at 6 p.m. The event is meant to honor the hundreds of residents who have survived cancer, offer hope for finding a cure and allow survivors to celebrate each other as well as a fellowship opportunity with others they can relate to.

“The dinner is our way to honor our survivors,” said Sherry Clark, community manager for the area’s Relay for Life events. “We are celebrating their survival and them beating cancer.

“We invite all (survivors) to register. We invite all survivors in the area; we just ask them to register. It is a sweet event, and it makes the survivors feel loved.”

The leadership team from Relay for Life will offer a complimentary meal to each cancer survivor and his or her guest, who will also hear a few words from fellow survivor Michele Bates along with the music of oncologist Dr. Jose Tongol.

“The Cancer Survivors Dinner is a great opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate life and hope, while honoring the personal journey of cancer survivors,” said Katelyn Moree, the 2017 Relay for Life chair. “Every survivor is invited, whether they were diagnosed today, yesterday or 20 years ago.

“We look forward to this event every year. It’s so important to acknowledge our survivors and their caregivers with a night of celebration.”

Later in the month, more than 300 Dougherty and Lee residents and visitors are expected to take part in the 2017 Relay For Life event at the Exchange Club Fairgrounds at 810 S. Westover Blvd. starting at 6 p.m. on April 21 and going until 1 a.m. on April 22.

This event aims to raise more than $100,000 for ACS while providing a positive and family-oriented experience for members of the community whose lives have been touched in some way by cancer.

“Relay For Life is an incredibly important event to the Dougherty and Lee communities because it not only raises much-needed funding for cancer research, it’s also an amazing opportunity for citizens to come together and honor those in our community who battle cancer,” said Moree. “Every one of us has a family member, a friend or a colleague who has fought cancer, and this event is one of the many ways we can recognize their struggles while working to find a cure.”

Event highlights include the Survivor Lap, meant to be an inspirational time when cancer survivors walk in unity around the track to celebrate their victories over cancer. A luminaria ceremony will commemorate loved ones who are battling cancer, anyone who has overcome it, and loved ones lost through the lighting of hand-decorated, candle-lit bags on the track.

Each luminaria lit is in remembrance of a life touched by cancer.

“The best part is the celebration (of survivors) and remembrance of those we’ve lost,” Clark said. “At 9 p.m., we light the bags around the track, light the torches and release the balloons.

“That is what brings it all home, that and the Survivor Lap.”

A $20 purchase of a luminaria helps fund ACS’s cancer research and patient programs that make a difference in communities. Live entertainment will be provided by Albany-area musical acts, cheer and dance teams, and a silent auction — the latter of which is a new addition to the festivities and will include donated items from Albany-area businesses, Clark said.

The location is also a change from prior events, which recently had been held at the former Darton State College.

“We had parking space issues out there (at Darton), and we never want someone to turn away if they couldn’t find parking space,” Clark said. “So when (the Exchange Club) approached us, we said yes.”

This is the second year the Relay has been held on shorter hours. While the longer event had a following, the shorter timeframe has proved to be more realistic for those who simply cannot sustain the momentum to be there longer.

“I’d rather scale it back than not do it at all,” Clark said.

There are new teams slated to participate this year, a hopeful sign that the severe storms from earlier in the year will not deter the community support shown in the past.

“I think the community is hurting, but I am still hopeful (about the turnout),” Clark said. “I’m still hopeful people will come together.

“We want people to really walk away from the event knowing they did all they could for cancer. We want people to leave the relays feeling charged.”

Community vendors will have tents set up at the fairgrounds to raise funds for ACS. There is still time to register for the event or donate to the cause.

The event website is accessible at relay.acsevents.org. For additional information, visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Relay-For-Life-of-Dougherty-Lee-County-178061195603210.

Clark can provide additional information on the dinner, and she can be reached by calling (229) 446-0986 or emailing [email protected].