Help beat cancer! Relay for Life!

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Kayla Phantom

Cancer is incurable right? Wrong! There is much you can do for your health and the health of others, you can actually help beat cancer.

Keep a look out for Ashbrook High School, 2222 S. New Hope Road, Gastonia! Why? Because there, from 6 am Friday to 7pm Saturday you can find the help beat cancer campaign Relay for Life. A Survivor Dinner taking place at 5 and 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Educational Suites at Gaston Memorial Hospital will serve as one of the lead-ins to this year’s walk.

A treat will be provided to cancer survivors by Alfred and Charlie’s BBQ House; cost is $7 per meal for families and friends. The entertainment will be provided by the Cancer Survivors Choir, giving survivors the ability to preregister for this weekend’s Relay event.

John Carter, a news anchor for WBTV Charlotte, is Gastonia’s honorary survivor and will lead the survivors’ lap that kicks off the overnight event Friday night.

There will also be a luminaria ceremony at 9 pm for those in memory of those who passed away because of cancer and for those who are still fighting the disease. Relay participants will be led by a bagpiper while silently moving around the track.

The Relay for Life march was created in order to give people a way to fight the illness together. Since many have been touched by cancer in on way or another, it gives them a sense of power over the disease. It is also the biggest national fundraiser of the year for the American Cancer Society and money raised from relay events support cancer research, education, advocacy and patient service programs.