By NewsLine Staff
mail@floridanewsline.com
Nease High School will host the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of the First Coast six-hour event again this spring. Hundreds of area residents will join together to fight back against cancer on Saturday, April 13 from 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Relay For Life provides an opportunity for registered teams and participants to set up a tent-site on the track to fundraise for American Cancer Society life-saving programs, services, and research. Teams and participants take turns walking around the track for the duration of the event to show their support of those touched by cancer.
“In 2023, more than 1.9 million new cancer cases were expected to be diagnosed in the United States and more than 600,000 Americans were expected to die from cancer,” said Jaclyn Rodriguez, senior development manager at the American Cancer Society. “Educating, advocating and increasing equal access to care depends on what we do right now. Events like Relay For Life provide an opportunity for communities to raise awareness and funds for life-saving programs and services like Road to Recovery and Hope Lodge.”
The community is welcome to attend for food, games, and entertainment. The event kicks off at 4 p.m. with an Opening Ceremony that recognizes survivors and caregivers followed by a schedule of events and activities before our Luminaria Ceremony begins at 8:30 p.m.
Longtime participant Marion Linda said, “We enjoy the opening ceremony where they kick off the event with the survivor lap. There’s a lot of festivities throughout the evening including a survivor and caregiver dinner reception. We support American Cancer Society local events because of all the work the society does to provide programs, services, research and more to cancer patients and their families. We look forward to another successful event this year.”
The American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event, Relay For Life is more than a walk. It is a volunteer-led movement that unites communities to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost to cancer, and raise funds to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families.
“Relay is an opportunity to connect survivors and caregivers to others who understand the cancer journey and the importance of having hope,” said Rodriguez. “Relay For Life provides this and more. It’s a movement. It’s something you don’t fully understand until you experience it. I started Relaying in 2011 and it’s been a part of my life ever since.”
In Florida, more than 162,000 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed. Cancer continues to be the second most common cause of death among Americans after heart disease. Visit RelayForLife.org/FirstCoastFL or call (800) 227-2345 to sign up or learn more about Relay For Life,
Photo courtesy Jaclyn Rodriguez
The Survivors’ lap at Relay for Life is very meaningful.
