I am participating in Relay for Life for the first time with my work. We made a Jimmy Johns team. I am having difficulty getting donations. So if anyone would like to donate my page is

 http://main.acsevents.org/goto/katienelsonjj

 

THANK YOU!

Group for all Phi Theta Kappa Relay For Life teams to share information and ideas!

2008 will be Santa Clarita Valley's 10th year participating in RFL. Our community event has grown so huge now both from the # of teams joining to the amount of money being donated. We are always looking for new ways to improve or expand on areas to make RFL one of the best in our community.

Our theme this year is "Around the World: Passport to Hope". A lot of our teams are looking forward to decorating their campsite. We are trying to have "passports" made so people can visit the world of hope at our event.

A lot of our committee members and team captains will travel to other Relays not only to help support their event but to find new ways or ideas to do things. I personally visited 7 Relays in 2007 and came away with some great ideas from both a Team Captain P.O.V. and from a Committee P.O.V. I plan to visit other Relays this year, starting with my alma mater CSUN (Cal State University Northridge) on April 12th. Go Matadors!

 Jennifer Minard - Accounting/Data Entry as well as Co-Captain of Bosom Buddies

Susan Swensen has been participating in Relay For Life since 1996. Since then, she has been diagnosed, fought, and defeated breast cancer...and has been a survivor for the last four years. For Susan, Relay For Life is worth Celebrating because of the way that her entire community of Pine Bush has grabbed a hold of the fight against cancer. "Just to see that many people in one place all there for the same reason, to find a cure, is something you have to see," she says.

Susan is the event chair for the Relay For Life of Pine Bush, NY, but her volunteer experience did not begin there. In 1996, Susan joined the Relay For Life community as a team member. At the time, there was not an event in Pine Bush, New York. Eventually, Susan decided to become the Team Captain of her own team, and in 2005, she helped to bring Relay For Life to Pine Bush. In just three years, the Relay For Life of Pine Bush has raised more than $318,000.

Dannielle Swihart is a Relay For Life volunteer from Oswego, Illinois.  She has been involved with Relay For Life sine June, 2005, in memory of her mother.  "When I hear my mom's name called during the Luminaria Ceremony, I get a lump in my throat," she says.  "I walk so that other children will know their grandparents."

Dannielle's mother was a remarkable woman.  She gave everything she had for her family.  She taught Danielle what it means to sacrifice for your children.  She is the one who taught Danielle what it means to be a mom.  Danielle's mom was misdiagnosed with a rare disease in 2001.  Later, they found out that she had lymphoma, and it had gone undetected for a year and a half.  By then, she had been diagnosed with Merkel Cell Carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.  She fought hard and went through every treatment made available to her.  Unfortunately, she lost her battle with cancer.

Danielle's oldest daughter was only two years old at the time, and her other two children were unborn.  However, all three children know that they walk every year in memory of their Grandma Carol.  As her children grow older, Danielle has plans to become more involved with her local Relay For Life event.

This is the first year that Melissa Castro participated in the Relay For Life of Peabody.  Melissa was a caregiver to her mother, who lost her battle just four months after being diagnosed in 2006.  From her involvement with Relay For Life, she is able to receive comfort, support, and healing from such an emotional time in her life.

Her mother had started a new life with a new fiance, retired, and was diagnosed just after moving.  At the time, she was given 6-8 months to life...and she survived for four.  "It's been almost 2 years and I still cry for her every day.  Mom, I miss you soooo much, and I cant' help b ut to wonder 'what if I had one day?,'" says Melissa.

Melissa most memorable moment of her first Relay experience was the Luminaria Ceremony.  Specifically, she remembers the luminaria bags spelling out the word, Hope, and the movie screen with everyone's name scrolling that had lost their fight with cancer.  "I believe that everyone we have lost somehow knows what we are doing and why we are doing it.  That maybe someday, we will win the fight, and no one else will have to suffer from this deadly life-sucking disease again.  I believe in hope, and miracles, and community."

We invite our Springfield/Thurston Curves Members to join us in

the fight against Cancer.  Let's do our best to raise funds for

this year's race.  Let's all set our sites on working together to

do better than we ever have before.  Our goal is $4,500 by

July 25-26, Relay for Life.  Come on girls, we can do it.

CurvesSpringfield