The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Santa Clarita Valley looped around for its 26th year as a community staple on Saturday at Central Park.
With the event title being “May the Cure Be With You,” embodying the “Star Wars” theme on “May the Fourth,” thousands of people participated to help meet the $300,000 fundraising goal. As of 4 p.m., the amount fundraised was $252,227 and counting.
Comprised of 43 booths and 12 virtual booths from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., the relay, which was 19th in the nation last year, according to the Relay for Life Santa Clarita website, also entailed events such as Disney and Star Wars crafts, food trucks, a survivor tiki room and scheduled entertainment such as taekwondo and dance groups.
The awaited luminaria ceremony and silent lap was to take place at 7:30 Saturday night.
“All our teams are fundraising to save lives from cancer,” said Abby Smith, American Cancer Society senior development manager. “We have live entertainment all day long. We have food trucks all day long. We’re celebrating cancer survivors all day long, all under the umbrella of fighting back against cancer all together, as one community.”
According to Smith, the relay saw over 1,000 people, both booth members and attendees, from the start of the event to Saturday afternoon.
“People are loving the theme. Every booth has some kind of Star Wars or Disney-related theme. We have a couple of teams that are selling lightsabers, blow-up lightsabers for donations,” Smith said. “Relay for Life exists to celebrate cancer survivors, because they are VIPs all day.”
While the goal is to fundraise, it is also to educate the community and raise awareness in fighting cancer, as well as implementing resources that are available in Santa Clarita, according to Smith.
“We have new teams every year. We have some booths that are brand new, and we have some that have been here before but they keep it fresh every year,” Smith said. “We have goodies for cancer survivors, and you can dedicate a luminaria bag in honor of somebody who’s been diagnosed with cancer, whether they’re still with us today or not.”
Samantha Lindsey, the welcome booth lead, has been a part of Relay for Life for four years.
“It’s always nice to meet the survivors and be able to direct them to where they’re going to get the most support and care. We want them to know that we do care, and that we’re here for a reason,” Lindsey said.
According to Lindsey, people are surprised that Relay for Life exists, but once they learn about the event, they are eager to participate the following year.
“We’re getting a lot of love today. It’s super rewarding — giving back, not wanting anything in return other than bringing awareness for cancer research and trying to fundraise for those who are fighting or their families that are with them,” Lindsey said.
Lily, a service dog dressed as Minnie Mouse and giving “kisses for a cure,” was a part of “got cure?” the top fundraising team with over $30,000 fundraised.
The “got cure?” team, which now includes Kathleen Pavard, the top participant with over $16,500 fundraised, and Carol Calkins and Marsha Bagwell, has had members who were a part of Relay since its first year in 1999.
Nothing says “got cure?” like a cutout of a cow embodying Disney’s Clarabelle Cow, in addition to Mickey ears that are decorated in cow print.
“This is our 13th year — it’s kind of hard to say because it’s the 25th year for some team members,” Pavard said.
“Our team members come from all around Santa Clarita. Two are in Louisiana; they used to live here and they still are team members, and they send us stuff, donate, everything,” Bagwell said.
The booth of handmade cards, tiles and bookmarks, in addition to decorations to fit the theme, required months of the team’s efforts.
“Each card made by hand probably takes an hour-and-a-half to two hours,” Calkins said.
“I made 120 tiles, posters, and that took about six hours. The banners took about 40 hours. I made all the Mickey ears,” Bagwell said. “We’ve been doing this for about three to four months.”
“Relay kicks off Sept. 1. We will have our first team meeting in September and go from there,” Pavard said.
Gallery: Photos by Dan Watson/The Signal
