The third annual Hants West Relay for Life may be over, but the donations keep flowing in.
So far, the relay in Hants West has raised more than $87,000. In 2010, the event brought in slightly more than $77,000.
Tanya Moore, a co-chairwoman for the organizing committee behind the Hants West relay — an overnight fundraiser in support of the Canadian Cancer Society — says donations are still rolling in.
This year’s relay saw 112 registered survivors — a number that grew from 75 in 2010 — and 426 participants, uniting at the Hants County Exhibition Grounds June 3, with one mission in mind: to fight back against cancer.
After an emotional, yet uplifting, survivor’s lap kicked off the evening, 40 teams followed, prepared to keep members circling the track for 12 hours straight to celebrate life, remember loved ones lost to the disease, and fight back.
For 22 hours, Windsor-based volunteer firefighter Doug Matheson sat atop a 100-foot aerial ladder at the exhibition grounds, collecting donations for the Canadian Cancer Society. Matheson lost his mother, Ena Matheson — a recent recipient of a Citation of Merit for service from the Canadian Cancer Society — in December.
“It was emotional moment for the committee to send Doug Matheson up on the ladder at 9 a.m. on Friday, and to have him come down the ladder as we made our final lap at 7 a.m. on Saturday,” Moore said.
“There were not many dry eyes.”
Moore says phenomenal community support helped make this year’s relay a success.
Donations can still be made to help the Hants West Relay for Life organizing committee reach their goal of raising $100,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society until July 15 at www.relayforlife.ca.
