The Relay for Life of Richmond Hill had a total of 15 teams and more than 200 participants in their annual fundraising event that started Friday night and continued into Saturday morning at J.F. Gregory Park.
"We raised over $75,000 to support the American Cancer Society mission," said Victoria Ten Broeck, Community Manager for the South Atlantic Division of the American Cancer Society. "Teams took turns walking laps and camped out all night while enjoying music, food and camaraderie with one another while raising money and awareness in the fight against cancer."
This year’s theme was "Cancer Doesn’t Take a Vacation," with themed booths under the park’s pavilion. For example, the "S.S. Carver" was "Cruisin’ for a Cure" with Carver Elementary School’s team and the new McDonald’s had a "McD’s Hula Hut."
Joyce Palmer was the McDonald’s team captain and is a cancer survivor. She said the event is important because it allows the community to get together and share memories of those they’ve lost as well as the stories of survivors.
"This was my eighth time doing RFL; I did it seven times in Michigan and this was my first here in Bryan County," Palmer said, noting she would really like to see a bigger turnout for the fundraiser next year. "This is such a worthy event. We need to get the whole community more involved because, from what I’ve learned in the year I’ve been here, Richmond Hill is very community-oriented. People really care."
Other teams were: Beef’O’Brady’s, Boy Scout Troop 486, Coastal Electric, Forever Grateful, Richmond Hill High School, Middle School and Primary School, Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church, Woodlands Bank, Friends Fight Back, Friends and Family of Diane Poythress and Richmond Hill Realtors.
Last year, the RFL of Richmond Hill raised over $100,000. Broeck said this year there were less participants.
"That means the per team fundraising dollars was down this year," she said. "But we are geared up to keep fundraising during the summer and are already starting to prepare for next year’s event."
Visit the RFL of Richmond Hill web site at http://events.cancer.org/rflrichmondhillga to find out more about their upcoming golf tournament fundraiser.