The American Cancer Society is hosting its 27th annual Relay for Life fundraiser, with people of all ages participating at Santa Clarita Central Park on Saturday.
The event started in Tacoma, Washington, in 1985 when an oncology doctor, Gordy Klatt, decided to raise money for the American Cancer Society. He walked a track for 24 hours, which was 83 miles, and raised $27,000, according to Kelly Kruger, a volunteer at the local event.
People of all ages were walking or running the track for their “teams” at Central Park. For the entire 12 hours, held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, at least one member from each “team” must be on the track every hour to show their support.
“It’s amazing. It is truly amazing to have the youth come out here because that’s what’s going to keep it going. The older we get, the less people, unfortunately, we can get out here, right?” said Erin Lewis, survivor co-chair of Relay for Life.
Music was blasting throughout the event from live bands, including the Saugus High School jazz band, which made an appearance to entertain attendees.
Everywhere people looked, participants were smiling, enjoying the morning and walking around to all the different booths.
Among the booths was the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop, which was selling clothes to raise money. Other booths like Babes for Boobs had a punch game and a coin toss, which were crowd favorites at the event. But no matter what the outcome was with each game – people won a prize.
Leslie Borgen, another survivor co-chair for Relay for Life, loves this event because of all the information it provides. During the event, she even helped find wigs for one survivor.
“We have a lot of different people that are resource centers that people aren’t aware of. And that’s what we want to do is also give them some opportunity to learn about what’s available for them as well as the resource and all of the prevention information,” Borgen said.
Relay for Life is happening until 9 p.m. on Saturday, with the biggest event of the evening, the luminaria ceremony, beginning at 8 p.m.
