LAKEPORT, Calif. – This weekend people from all over Lake County will come together to participate in the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life event on the Clear Lake High School track.
The relay will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and continue until 10 a.m. Sunday at the high school, located at 350 Lange St. in Lakeport.
When the 24-hour relay comes around every year most people may think of a run or a walk – imagining numbers on jerseys with cancer ribbons and sweat.
“It’s always misunderstood,” said Racheal Harmon, an American Cancer Society staff partner with Relay for Life. “People are always like, ‘Oh, I’m not a runner!’ and that’s our hardest part. We’re a nonprofit. We’re trying to get our services out there.”
You can sweat if you want to, though. This year, Harmon said, a cancer survivor plans to run 52 miles around the track for all 52 years that he’s lived.
“It’s a family event,” said event lead Danyelle Johnson. “People get crazy and they dress up.”
There will be a tug-of-war, a midnight 5 kilometer glow run (think of dozens of people decked out in glow-in-the-dark neon jewelry), a newspaper and duct tape fashion show, an iPad mini raffle, and a bounce house for the children in the kid zone, along with a scavenger hunt.
Most people walk a few laps in honor of a loved one. Others show up to share in the many themed games and festivities that are there for everyone.
The day will be kicked off with a survivor walk-themed purple power hour, the universal color of all cancer awareness.
While the fun activities bring a lighthearted atmosphere to the family friendly booths, platforms and tents, at the heart of it all is the reality of the impact that cancer has had on many of the people there.
“You don’t realize how much it affects you until you’re there,” said Johnson.
With that deeply personal impact at its heart, Lake County's Relay for Life event has become particularly effective in the fundraising needed to fight cancer.
According to data from 2014 provided by the American Cancer Society, at $71,418, the Lake County relay raised more than double the San Francisco Marina and Sunset districts combined, two of the wealthiest and the only districts to host a relay in the city.
Recognizing cancer's personal impact
Whether they are survivors themselves, have recently or long lost a loved one or are there in support of someone who is facing the terrifying uncertainty that is cancer, Lake County Relay for Lifers know cancer.
Harmon became involved with relay for life in 2007 after a close friend lost both of her parents to cancer within months.
“I started for her,” Harmon said. “And then I’m like, wait a minute, my dad has cancer, my stepdad has cancer … I’m thinking I haven’t been touched and you go to the relay and it hits you.”
Now Harmon works full-time for the American Cancer Society and acts as a liaison with Relay for Life volunteers every year for the event as a staff partner.
Johnson started volunteering on the event lead team in 2008 after she learned that her grandmother was diagnosed with cancer.
She said the relay is special to her for more than one reason. “You’re honoring them [loved ones] but at the same time you’re raising money to prevent it [cancer].”
So the benefits of attending are sometimes two- or three-fold for attendees. They have the chance to show support while the money raised goes toward research, programs and services, many of which are free.
The relay also helps highlight American Cancer Society services, such as the lesser-known “Look Good Feel Better” program.
The program educates men, women and teens about the symptoms they may experience in treatment while teaching them beauty and lifestyle techniques they can use during their transition.
Program manager Elizabeth Turney said it’s an underattended program even though it’s free and local. She believes that more people would use the service if they knew it was there.
“People love it, they just love it,” she said. “There’s a huge difference between when they first come in and when they leave two hours later.”
Representatives from Pantene Beautiful Lengths will be at the relay as well. Attendees who want a haircut can donate their lengthy locks to be made into wigs for people who have suffered hair loss from chemotherapy. You’ll have to be able to spare at least eight inches off the top if you want to participate.
“I’m having mine done,” said Johnson, stroking her lengthy braid with a smile. “It takes eight separate donations to make one wig.”
Light and remembrance
The star of the relay event is the luminaria ceremony, which takes place at 9 p.m. Saturday after the day’s activities.
“If there’s one ceremony you want to be at, it’s that one,” said Johnson.
Participants bring decorated purple paper bags that represent someone who did not survive their battle with cancer. Candles are lit in the bags, which then light up the track as a slideshow plays pictures of those that are lost.
For newcomers, Harmon said, “This could be very healing or it could be very difficult.”
Harmon shared an anecdote about a group of people who came to honor the loss of a friend who was a Lake County local.
“Now it’s like their family reunion every year,” she said. “They all come from southern California here to the event to honor him.”
And that’s what makes the Lake County Relay so different from others that will be going on statewide this weekend.
In cities like San Francisco, the big givers are primarily corporate businesses, which are there for the publicity. For Lake County Relay for Lifers, it’s much more personal.
Sophia LaRosa, senior manager at the American Cancer Society, said that what makes the Lake County community so unique compared to other Relay for Life events is the number of people affected by cancer.
“Lake County is very generous,” LaRosa said. “It’s more hit by cancer than other areas in California.”
The goal for all Relay for Life events is the same: to raise awareness and funding for the services and education provided by the American Cancer Society to those battling cancer, and for research.
The American Cancer Society remains the largest funder of cancer research in the United States.
Ultimately, its goal is to see cancer come to an end.
“Eventually, someday hopefully, we’ll have a cure,” Johnson said.
For more information visit www.relayforlife.org/lakecountyca or visit the Lake County Relay for Life Facebook page for a detailed schedule of featured activities.
To have pictures of loved ones displayed in the luminaria ceremony slideshow email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Email Shari Shepard at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .