The American Cancer Society Santa Clarita Valley Chapter held its Relay for Life “May the Cure be With You” Rally Tune Up on Saturday in Old Town Newhall near the Laemmle Theater to raise money to find a cure for cancer with fun games, face painting, and other activities for passersby to participate in.
Carol Calkins a volunteer with the local chapter of the American Cancer Society was handing out recycled T-shirts cut in the shape of superhero capes for children to decorate with all kinds of doodles they pleased. The capes were meant to represent the fight against cancer, said Calkins.
Ten-year-old Maurielle Chapman, who coincidentally wore an all-purple outfit, the signature color for cancer survivors, was decorating her cape with intentional words and symbols such as “Fearless” and a drawing of the purple ribbon.
Chapman and her mother Wendy Manley were on their way to the local farmers market when they stumbled upon the numerous purple tents with a large group of individuals speaking to passersby about their upcoming “May the Cure be With You” Relay for Life event scheduled May 4 at Central Park.
The local chapter’s goal with the morning event was to bring awareness about the illness, educate people about cancer prevention and their big annual celebration and fundraiser to find the cure for cancer.
“I’m learning that there’s a lot of people that have cancer and I learned that there are different types of cancers,” said Chapman. Her mother added that she was glad Chapman was gaining something from the experience which was important.
The American Cancer Society local chapter has been hosting the annual Relay for Life celebration for over two decades and each volunteer was looking forward to this year, aiming to raise $300,000. So far, they have raised $126,140.12, according to their website.
Those who walked through the area could also participate in luminary decorating, one of the most recognizable parts of the Relay for Life celebration.
Yvonne Salas, the luminaria lead and volunteer for six years, was decorating numerous paper bags with photos of SCV residents who are cancer survivors or have lost their battle to it.
“To me its one of the biggest parts or Relay, what the luminary is, we honor and remember people who have battled cancer,” said Salas. “We light up all the bags and we have this luminary ceremony where all of the field lights are turned off and everybody has a candle, and we do a lap in silence altogether … it brings awareness, it remembers people and we honor them.”
Each volunteer with the local chapter have had their own experiences with cancer and is why they continue with their volunteerism to educate others and spread the message of cancer awareness. Some volunteers have lost a loved one to cancer, while others are survivors themselves.
Maria Falasca beat breast cancer and has been a survivor for 26 years.
“The first year was very hard, very difficult and lot of surgeries, treatments, chemotherapy, radiation,” she said. “Then hoping that I dont get a recurrence.”
Although she was able to beat cancer her husband lost his battle with prostate cancer two and a half years ago, she said.
“I was his caregiver at the time and he still went with me to Relay events and we walked around the track together,” and is one of the reasons why she continues to support the organization, she added. “They helped me out during my journey, they helped my husband out during his journey and so I continue to fight back and give help to other survivors.”
The local chapter anticipates having approximately 2,000 attendees on the day of the main event, said Brad Peach, mission lead for the organization.
People will have the opportunity to meet other survivors, participate in fun activities and join the fight against cancer.
