Cottage Grove's 2010 Relay For Life

Many team members participate in honor of a loved one. Dawn Maezes, the Fight Like a Girl team captain, is participating for her second year in the Cottage Grove Relay For Life in honor of many family members, including herself. Maezes is an eighteen-year survivor of cancer and her mother and all her sisters have also faced cancer. This year they are celebrating their survival with a family reunion at the event being held on June 18, 2010 at Lincoln Middle School.

This is the fourteenth year for Relay For Life; in 1986 the first event with teams took place in Tacoma, Washington. The year prior, Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon, personally walked for 24 hours to raise the first $27,000.

Each Relay For Life team consists of 8 to 15 members. There are currently twenty-one teams registered for this year's Cottage Grove event. Maezes' team grew so large that had to split in two. One team is Fight Like a Girl and their motto is “Teed Off About Breast Cancer.” The other team is called the Cottage Bowlers and their mission is to “Strike Out Cancer”.

There are a variety of ways for people to participate. During the 24-hour period of the relay, teams always have at least one person walking the track. Other ways members participate are by helping to set up, decorate, operate or clean-up team campsites. There are competitions for the best decorated site.

People can come and walk even if they have not participated before the event and this is valued as it helps to fill in scheduling gaps that may occur at the last minute. Photographers are valued also. To participate sign up online or contact Natalie Cardoza at 541- 767- 2695 as soon as possible.

Each member, whether walking or helping in another way, does fundraising prior to the event. They each set a personal fundraising goal of $100 or greater. Maezes said, “They make it so easy, with a simple e-mail that you can send to contacts of your choosing for sponsorship of your walk.”

Maezes is referring to the American Cancer Society, who has raised over 3 billion dollars with this event. She added that they also make it easy for you to invite other people to participate on your team or even to invite survivors you may know to walk. Participants are encouraged to invite people over the phone or by letter if that suits their personal style better.

It is suggested that each fundraiser aim to gather many small donations, a few larger ones or some combination in-between. Places to find people to ask are through organizations you are a part of, your work or service providers you have contact with. 

There are also lit bags, which line the Relay For Life track, called luminaries, that are sponsored and then dedicated to a loved one, in memory, honor or support of their experience with cancer. Maezes said, "It is awesome when they light the luminaries. It is an unbelievable feeling to be a cancer survivor walking the survivors' lap." 

Maezes made one last point saying, “It is so important for those of us who have fought and won to know there are others and that we can, as a group, do something for those who are still fighting the battle alone and need support and encouragement.” 

For more information: 

www.relayforlife.org/cottagegroveor

http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/