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    RELAY FOR LIFE PREVIEW
May 29, 2009

500 expected at local Relay for Life

Traverse City High students to participate

BY LINDSAY VANHULLE

TRAVERSE CITY -- Renee Dean used to walk in the annual Relay For Life cancer fundraiser.

But after she was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer in 2002, and again in 2007, she hasn't been able to bring herself to go back.

The ceremony is the hardest. Participants write the names of family and friends who battled the disease on paper bags, and candles are lit at dusk in their honor.

"You can't put it out of your mind when your name's on the bag," said Dean, a nurse at Traverse City High School who is now in remission.

Students and staff members at the alternative high school will participate in this year's Relay, a 24-hour fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

It will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center. The largest such event for the organization, this year will include nearly 500 participants and 46 teams.

"People that come for the first time just get hooked," said Lisa Hofbauer, a community representative for the American Cancer Society's Northern Michigan Area Service Center. "It kind of gets the fire burning in you."

Now in its 25th year, Relay For Life is held annually in communities across the nation. Last year, $105,000 was raised during Grand Traverse County's event, Hofbauer said.

Organizers hope to earn $115,000 this year, but the economic recession has trickled down to fundraisers: The number of business sponsors is down for this year's event.

Diane Denoyer's team raised the most money last year, a feat she hopes to repeat this year. Already, the Traverse City resident raised at least $2,600 on her own.

Her father is an 18-year survivor of prostate cancer, and she has participated in the relay ever since his diagnosis.

The fact that money is given to researchers and used for various programs and services is "why I continue, because I know it's working," Denoyer said.

Traverse City High has participated for 10 years. Students sell candy bars and return pop cans to raise $100 each, said Donna Novak, a staff member who serves as team captain.

Including Dean, several students know the effects of cancer on a personal level. Amber Beaudrie, a junior, lost her cousin at age 26. Sophomore Kendra Scott's uncle died in February of cancer believed to be related to Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam.

Junior Rozzlon Grzesiek and senior Julia Archibald both lost relatives to pancreatic cancer.

Julia, 17, said she learned after walking for the first time last year that even small gestures matter.

"At first I thought, 'Who am I? I'm one person,'" she said. "One person can really change a lot."

If you go to the Relay for Life

The annual Relay For Life fundraiser, to benefit the American Cancer Society, will be held for 24 hours, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center. Nearly 500 people and 46 teams will participate.

The event is open to the public. Survivors will lead the first lap shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday, and are invited to dinner at 6:30 p.m. A ceremony in their honor is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., and the luminaria ceremony will happen about 9:30 p.m.

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