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Date set for 2009 Bay
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| Rotarion Roger Elswick (right) presents Bay Area Relay for Life chair Leila Bates with a check for $500 on behalf of the Rotary Club of Baytown. By 2009 the relay will have contributed a grand total of $5 million toward cancer research. |
By JOSH HARDWICK
When Lori Tadlock first participated in the Bay Area Relay for Life in 2001, she did so in remembrance of a friend who passed away from cancer that April.
However, next year her motivation for participating in the annual relay would become frighteningly personal: Tadlock was diagnosed with cancer herself that September.
Today she is cancer free, but her commitment to the cause is stronger than ever.
Tadlock and fellow organizers are already planning for the 2009 Bay Area Relay for Life, which is scheduled for Friday, April 24 at Stallworth Stadium.
Since its inception in 1998, the Bay Area relay has been wildly successful in its efforts to raise money for the American Cancer Society (ACS). The 2008 relay netted over $800,000 for cancer research and officials said that this year the event will eclipse $5 million in total contributions to the cause.
The event is just one of thousands of relays held across the nation each year to help fund research and development of various cancer-fighting treatments, and for the past eight years the Baytown relay has enjoyed the distinction of been the largest such event in Texas.
“From the first day back in 1998 we started setting records,” said event chair Leila Bates. “We knew from the beginning that it would turn into something special.”
The signature event for the relay is a 15-hour walk or run, which is kicked off by a special, “survivor lap.” This walk is commemorative of those area residents who have fought and won their own fights with the deadly disease, a victory lap that was made by over 400 survivors in 2008.
Teams of participants lap the track throughout the day and night for the main portion of the relay and are sponsored by various individuals and businesses who donate money to the ACS.
Nighttime brings out one of the most powerful visual images of the Bay Area relay – the luminary ceremony.
When the sun goes down, volunteers place thousands of lit candles in paper bags around the perimeter of the track, each one in deference to someone who either lost their life to cancer or is still fighting the disease.
“It’s truly a beautiful sight,” said Bates, who has watched the number of candles grow every year – sobering reminder of the sheer scope of the disease. “It really makes an impact when you can see how many lives have been touched by cancer.”
For Tadlock, her own struggle with cancer left such a lasting impact that she chose to remain an active member of the relay’s planning committee to this day.
Now an event chair, she said she is proud to have both participated in and contributed to an event that gives hope to so many in need.
“There’s nothing like walking around that track knowing that you’re still here,” said Tadlock, remembering her own survivor’s lap so many years ago. “Everyone knows someone who has cancer, and if it weren’t for the advances we are making in research today 400 people wouldn’t be walking around that track as a survivor.”
The American Cancer Society is the largest source of nonprofit, nongovernmental cancer research funding in the U.S., investing about $130 million each year.
To date the organization has funded 40 Nobel Prize-winning researches and has contributed to several major advances in cancer research.
For more information about the Bay Area Relay for Life or to make a contribution, visit www.bayarearelay.org.
However, next year her motivation for participating in the annual relay would become frighteningly personal: Tadlock was diagnosed with cancer herself that September.
Today she is cancer free, but her commitment to the cause is stronger than ever.
Tadlock and fellow organizers are already planning for the 2009 Bay Area Relay for Life, which is scheduled for Friday, April 24 at Stallworth Stadium.
Since its inception in 1998, the Bay Area relay has been wildly successful in its efforts to raise money for the American Cancer Society (ACS). The 2008 relay netted over $800,000 for cancer research and officials said that this year the event will eclipse $5 million in total contributions to the cause.
The event is just one of thousands of relays held across the nation each year to help fund research and development of various cancer-fighting treatments, and for the past eight years the Baytown relay has enjoyed the distinction of been the largest such event in Texas.
“From the first day back in 1998 we started setting records,” said event chair Leila Bates. “We knew from the beginning that it would turn into something special.”
The signature event for the relay is a 15-hour walk or run, which is kicked off by a special, “survivor lap.” This walk is commemorative of those area residents who have fought and won their own fights with the deadly disease, a victory lap that was made by over 400 survivors in 2008.
Teams of participants lap the track throughout the day and night for the main portion of the relay and are sponsored by various individuals and businesses who donate money to the ACS.
Nighttime brings out one of the most powerful visual images of the Bay Area relay – the luminary ceremony.
When the sun goes down, volunteers place thousands of lit candles in paper bags around the perimeter of the track, each one in deference to someone who either lost their life to cancer or is still fighting the disease.
“It’s truly a beautiful sight,” said Bates, who has watched the number of candles grow every year – sobering reminder of the sheer scope of the disease. “It really makes an impact when you can see how many lives have been touched by cancer.”
For Tadlock, her own struggle with cancer left such a lasting impact that she chose to remain an active member of the relay’s planning committee to this day.
Now an event chair, she said she is proud to have both participated in and contributed to an event that gives hope to so many in need.
“There’s nothing like walking around that track knowing that you’re still here,” said Tadlock, remembering her own survivor’s lap so many years ago. “Everyone knows someone who has cancer, and if it weren’t for the advances we are making in research today 400 people wouldn’t be walking around that track as a survivor.”
The American Cancer Society is the largest source of nonprofit, nongovernmental cancer research funding in the U.S., investing about $130 million each year.
To date the organization has funded 40 Nobel Prize-winning researches and has contributed to several major advances in cancer research.
For more information about the Bay Area Relay for Life or to make a contribution, visit www.bayarearelay.org.
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