Article and Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
The Grant County Relay for Life 2014 held its kickoff event Saturday afternoon at the Silver High School cafeteria.Volunteers were on hand to help teams register, organize teams, and learn about sponsorships and what Relay for Life does for the community and the American Cancer Society.
Last year, the funding raised increased by 50 percent over the previous year, from $40,000 to $60,000. According to event chairwoman, Archi Padilla, the goal this year is $80,000.
Also available at the kickoff were pages of information about not only the services offered by the ACS at its site, cancer.org, but also the efforts its lobbying arm, ACS Cancer Action Network, does on the state and federal levels to create policies that are good for care for patients and prevention of cancer.
Total cancer-related appropriations in New Mexico in 2013 equaled $7,373,300.
The ASC CAN on the federal level spends 86 percent of its dollars on program services, with 14 percent going to supporting services, of which 6 percent is for fundraising efforts.
Volunteers are key to all fundraising efforts by the American Cancer Society. In Grant County alone, since 2005, the Relay for Life has raised more than $450,000 dollars toward research, advocacy and services for cancer patients.
One of the striking statistics was that nearly 14 million people in the U.S., who have survived cancer and countless others who have avoided it, will be celebrating birthdays this year. Many of them are your friends and neighbors.
Stay on the lookout for more information on Relay for Life.
For online registration, visit relayforlife.org, search for the town or zip code and register a team or a single participant.
For more information on the Grant County/Silver City Relay for life, contact event chairwoman, Archi Padilla. at 310-703-2948. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Stephanie Torres, survivor and caregiver chairwoman, irons the survivor sashes, to be proudly worn by cancer survivors. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Event chairwoman, Archi Padilla, models one of the freshly pressed survivor sashes. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Volunteers and team members enjoy lunch hosted by the Relay for Life Committee. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff More people enjoy the lunch. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Rosalie and Alfred Saiz are in their 13th year volunteering for Relay for Life. "We started with it the first year in Grant County, in 2001," Rosalie said. They were manning the registration table. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff A sign says it all. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Katie Harlin, senior manager for Relay for Life in New Mexico and with the American Cancer Society; Rachel Martinez, replay specialist for Grant County, and Alfred Gutierrez, event chairman for Las Cruces and Do+?a Ana County show some of the information available to those attending the kickoff event. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Laurie Jaurequi explained sponsorship levels and the benefits. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Friends of the Underground Band, George Montoya, Omar Holguin and Jesse Lozano entertained everyone present with their toe-tapping music. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff Part of the online registration and accountin team were on hand to explain how to sign up online. From left are Kelly Scott, captain of the Wells Farco Warriors team, Crystal White and Michele Nise, of Wells Fargo Bank. Relay for Life 2014 kickoff The rest of the online registration and accounting volunteers are Tenisha Flower and Jobi Torres.