Cancer survivors to be honored at relay

The American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Boulder City at Boulder City High School’s track April 25 offers cancer survivors and their loved ones a chance to celebrate all the additional candles on their birthday cakes since diagnosis.

It is also a way for the community to honor and celebrate the lives of local cancer survivors at this overnight event held to recognize that cancer doesn’t sleep.

Since the first Relay For Life in 1985 in Tacoma, Wash., the event has raised more than $4 billion at more than 5,200 events throughout the country.

Relay For Life opens as cancer survivors of all ages walk or run around the track for the first lap. Then, a festive atmosphere develops as teams of 10 to 15 people join the American Cancer Society’s efforts to help people get well, stay well, fight back and find cures.

A highlight of the evening is a luminaria service, a candlelight vigil held at nightfall to honor survivors and to remember those lost to cancer. Luminaria candles line the track and are left burning throughout the night as a reminder about the importance of participants’ involvement in the Relay For Life event.

“Relay For Life is a great opportunity to come together and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays,” said Shannon Tamanaha, director of Relay For Life in Boulder City. “It provides us with a way to celebrate and honor cancer survivors, remember those lost to the disease and fight back with the shared belief that cancer will be one day be eliminated.”

For more information, call 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.relayforlife.org.