Kids & Family
Relay For Life is Back for its Third Year
Teams can sign up free until March 31 for the event that will take place in May.
"Hope is Unstoppable" is this year's theme for the Scotts Valley Relay For Life, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and cancer research. This will be the third Relay for Life held in Scotts Valley, and organizers say the 24-hour event has grown each year.
"The idea is that someone who has cancer lives with it 24 hours a day, and we're giving them 24 hours of support," said event chair, Jackie Maurer, whose own son survived cancer at 17 years of age.
"They told him he wouldn't be able to have kids, and now he has two," said Maurer, whose son is now 30 years old.
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Scotts Valley's Relay For Life will feature live music, food, speeches, a releasing of doves, and of course, teams taking turns walking around the track for the entire 24 hours. At 9 p.m., the Luminaria Ceremony takes place, a remembrance ceremony for people to light a candle for someone they have lost to cancer.
"The Luminaria Ceremony is the most powerful, emotional part. It just shows you how many people have been lost to cancer, and how many people have been touched by it. For people who have lost someone it can be really, really healing," said Joanne Guzman, team development chairwoman.
Find out what's happening in Scotts Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The event is healing for those who have lost loved ones, but it is also a powerful source of inspiration and hope for those who are currently battling cancer.
"A lot of times I'll hear that people who have cancer, even in the case of my son, didn't want to go. But they end up feeling this awesome sense of community, that we're all there for them, for one, and it really gives them hope," said Maurer, who also stressed how important it is for cancer survivors to connect with people who are currently going through treatments for the same cancer.
"It gives them inspiration and strength to meet someone else who has completed treatment and has beat it," Maurer said.
There is still time to sign up a team for the Scotts Valley Relay For Life, which will be held at Skypark on May 19, from 10 a.m. until 10 a.m. the following day. Sign your team up for the Relay before March 31, and it's free! After March 31, registration costs $25.
A "Spring Boutique and Tea" fundraiser for the Relay will take place on April 21 at Bruno's BBQ from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
