Calling All Cancer Survivors, Walnut's Relay For Life Returns

The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life returns to Walnut this weekend.
The event runs from 9 a.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday. It will be held at Mt. San Antonio College’s Hilmer Lodge Football Stadium. This will be the 12th annual event.
The group has been searching for survivors and caregivers to participate in the event.
Organizers describe the relay as a “life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.”
The events feature teams of people that camp out at a local high school, park or fairgrounds and take turns walking or running around a track or path. There is a Luminaria ceremony where lights or candles light the walking path in memory of those who lost their battles.
To honor or remember someone with a luminaria during the Relay For Life Luminaria Ceremony contact, Wai-Ling Wu at wwu0302@gmail.com or buy luminarias online through the relay website.
“Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, the overnight events last up to 24 hours,” organizers wrote.
More than 4 million people in more than 5,200 communities across the country take part in this global phenomenon each year and raise funds and awareness to save lives, organizers said.
In the past 12 years, Relay For Life of Walnut has raised more than $1 million, relay officials said.
If you are a cancer survivor and want to participate in the event, visit the relay website. Or contact Cindy Ruiz at (909) 973-9677 or through email at ruizspeaces@msn.com.
Relay officials described a survivor is anyone who has ever heard who has been diagnosed and lives to tell the story, organizers said.
Survivors are guests of honor at relay events.
“We offer survivors special T-shirts and sashes, and hold a special reception breakfast for survivors and caregivers,” organizers wrote. “The Relay opens with a Survivors' Lap, where survivors lead the way around the track while participants honor and applaud them.”