I am a new co-chair. We are considering scheduling our Survivors' Dinner a few days prior to our event. In the past, we've had a large tent to the side of the field for the survivors' dinner and other acitivities.
I would like to hear your thoughts on the pros/cons of having the dinner prior to the event.
We have been having our Survivor Dinner prior to the event for several years. It works great for us. We have some type of entertainment and a Speaker (usually a Survivor or Caregiver). Ths allows the Survivors to relax and enjoy the entertainment as well as talk with other survivors during the Survivor Dinner. This also allows them to enjoy the activities at Relay.
Last year we had our dinner a week prior to the event. It was fabulous! There was more time to concentrate on the Survivors and make them feel special! They also had a comfortable place to sit and eat. We had a Survivor speak, some songs, poems read, etc. We even had a table set up to pre-sell luminary bags. We gave out their T-shirts so they could wear them the night of Relay. It was such a hit that we are doing it again this year! It also is a great opportunity to explain what will happen at Relay, any special parking considerations, the registration time for the Survivor lap, etc for all the new Survivors that you may have. We found a church/school that allowed us the use of their facility at no charge. We will still have a tent at Relay for games and refreshments. It is a little more work to plan, but it pays off when you don't have something of that magnitude on the night of Relay when everything else is going on! Good luck!
Thank you for the information. Change is never an easy thing, but I'm thinking that having the dinner prior to event is the way to go. Everything is so hectic the night of the actual event, I have never made it over to the Survivors' Tent to even say hello. Seems like this would be a little easier on the Survivor Committee members as the rest of us would be able to assist with the dinner and activities rather than them having to do it all at Relay.
Joined: 2007-04-11