i totally agree with going to the schools. it might be late for this season but with just a bit of time, you can get way more for next season. first off, sign up all who come to this years rfl for next year and ask them to join the committee. never too much help there. everyone knows a different set of people so the word spreads. check with your local chamber of commerce to see if they can send out a flyer that the acs can prepare for you. COC usually has a large mailing list. be prepared though and have an email style flyer ready in case they dont want to be spending time on snail mail. email is fat and easy. as far as the schools, go to them first week of school in sept. and ask for some time to be tied into an already scheduled assembly. explain to the audience what rfl is and what it can be.maybe challeng the different (homerooms, grades, clubs, etc.) to a friendly competition and offer a prize for end of event (pizza party, ice cream etc.) stress that they do need to have an adult sponsor to gather the paperwork and chaperone at event. my event has about 150-175 high school kids and about 50 middle schoolers. good luck. dont stress. just make sure that no matter how big or small it is, you make it fun, meaningfull, and memorable.

Hey! Cheer up! I know exactly what it's like to be so passionate about Relay and to not have a clue why people around you don't want to get involved.

I'm 25. The Relay in my community just turned 15. In 2007, when I returned home from college, jobless, broke and bored, I contacted ACS to see if my community Relay was around anymore. They put me in touch w/ the staff partner and the first meeting I attended was on my 24th birthday. Following that meeting, the staff partner asked if I wanted to be the chair!

An event that at one point made close to $200,000 each year, was luck to crack $30,000.

I quickly said yes and knew I had one heck of an uphill battle. But there was NOOOOOOOOO way I was going to let the Relay in my community die. There are too many survivors and too many people affected by cancer in my area for us not to fight back!!!!

The 15th event just happened on May 17-18. We beat our fundraising goal this year! And things are looking up! We had five more teams than we did last year and raised between $5,000 and $8,000 more than 2007!

And you know what? This is a terrible year to try and get people involved. With gas and food prices going up, people don't have extra cash. And in my area, many people would sooner just write a check than fundraise or camp out. But you know what? Their check is happily accepted at Relay!!!

Our committee consisted of less than 10 people and few of them did a lot of work.

Just know that you can't give up! Not for one moment. Survivors never give up! We can't give up, either!

Maybe try different things. Think outside the box? Maybe do an 18-hour Relay? Try doing a mini-Relay at a local elementary school?

The best thing is to try and get into the local schools and explain to them what Relay is. But don't just stand in front of people and say, "This. Is. Relay." Bring videos, t-shirts, prizes, music!!!!! Make it a mini-RLU or mini-kick-off. Get them pumped!!!!

And try hard to find businesses, too. I know this is so hard to do, but if you get one business out of 10 to join, then it's a success!!!! My staff partner walked into our local Best Buy and the lady was on board within five minutes. And they raised a TON of money!

Please just don't give up! You have a world of people on RelayForLife.org who are behind you! We're here to support you and give you ideas and let you know that it'll all be OK.

So you Relay with six teams this year... that's fine. NExt year shoot for 12.

We're here for you. :) And at some point we've all felt like a failure. It's natural, but you just have to think that even if your Relay raises $50, that's $50 more that can help fight cancer!!!!

Best of luck. And please e-mail me if you ever need to talk or have questions or just want to vent!

Please don't get discouraged.  Every event has peaks and valleys, and this year was a valley.  But that just means you can only go up!  You are definitely NOT a failure.  You can't make people get involved (believe me, I've tried!).  I understand the apathy...it seems we're all getting that - but the fact you are still having the luminaria ceremony for your survivors just goes to show the passion you have for the cause.   And they will remember that - and aren't we doing this for the survivors?

Make this year an exposure year - get the word out, invite everyone you know to the luminaria ceremony.  Sometimes just getting people there for something will give them a better idea of what Relay is all about.

I wish you all the best!

Don't get discouraged. 3 months is a very very short amount of time to plan and execute an event like Relay For Life. Just do what you can and know that the volunteer work you are doing is appreciated by the American Cancer Society and the survivors in your community. Then, you'll have an entire year to get your community inspired to get behind this event. Check out some of the forums and the Committee Chair Toolkit on RelayForLife.org for some ideas on recruiting teams and planning an event.

And the number one thing is to make sure that your passion for this event is contagious from you to your committee to your community. They will come around - they just need to be reminded of why we Relay!