Relay For Life

Every year I have watched my friends, Jan and Cristel, get involved with Relay for Life and captain thier own teams.

I’ve seen my co-workers ( Marce… especially you) put every ounce of energy into their Relay For Life events.

I’ve read about Pam Munthe’s efforts with the Luekemia and Lymphoma society and the marathon’s she runs ( Pam if I spelled your last name wrong please forgive me).

I’ve donated money to all of these, and more, but never found the time to get too involved in them myself. I was either busy taking care of Kerrie, busy moving to Virginia, busy fighting the U.S. Government to get Fuat here or busy fighting my own battle with cancer… but this year…

This year, I finally did it!! Instead of just getting involved, and forming one Relay For Life team, I am coordinating five teams! It helps when you have the backing of an amusement park( even if not financially 🙂 ) and have access to thousands of people who may want to help out.

This year, I am heading up KINGS DOMINION CARES! Five Relay for Life Teams at Kings Dominion, all competing against each other to see who can raise the most money. I wanted to make it fun for our employeesm as well as educational,while earning money for the American Cancer Society.

Team Captains set out to get their employees involved, and win the park’s trophy for raising the most amount of money along with getting their team name on a plaque that will hang in the Human Resources office. Our employees are very competitive, so having the trophy in their manager’s office, and their team name on a plaque is always a big inspiration to our employees.

To make it educational, each team picked one or two types of cancer they will represent. Thier themes have been geared around those particular cancers and each team will have educational information, at their team tables, on the night of the event. They chose thier themes because of cancer survivors on their team or because of loved ones they have lost to that particular cancer. The team I am personally heading up will be representing Leukemia and Ovarian cancer… of course 🙂

Here’s a look at the KINGS DOMINION CARES TEAMS and the cancers they are representing:

Human Resources, Maintenance, Finance & Marketing Divisions – Leukemia and Ovarian Cancer

Rides, Waterpark and Park Services Divisions – Skin Cancer

Entertainment, Admissions, Security & Safety Divisions – Lung Cancer

Food & Beverage Division – Breast Cancer

Merchandise & Games Divisions – Throat Cancer and Thyroid Cancer

We’ve had a lot of fun so far, and held several fundraising events…. and so far, the Merchandise & Games Team is in the lead for the park ( They are number # 2 in fundraising for the county. My team is # 3 for the county)

With 27 days to go until the Relay things are really getting busy! I’ve waited too many years to get involved in this event, so I guess it made sense to me that I should make up for five years of watching others get involved… of course, trying to make up for five years all in ONE year has been a little much, but I am glad I am doing it.

On May 19th, 2012 Mom, Fuat and I will be walking the track. It’s going to be a long night, but I am looking foward to it.

If you would like to see how my team is doing please visit my personal page or my team page:

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY12SA?px=21014660&pg=personal&fr_id=40902

I have been a cancer survivor for 2 years and 8 days… and I am helping the American Cancer Society to Fight back. I think my beautiful sister would be proud.

I love you Kerrie!