Celebrating cancer survivors

Cancer survivors and caregivers walked the first lap together Friday evening to kick off the annual Relay for Life held at Dimond Park Field House to celebrate another year of living.

Relay for Life is a fundraising walk for the American Cancer Society (ACS) during which people come together to remember lost loved ones, honor survivors, raise awareness about cancer and its impact and raise funds for the ACS. Participants are part of teams that take turns walking around the track. At all times a member of each team remains on the track to signify cancer’s persistence.

Miranda McHenry attended the annual Relay for Life of Juneau event as a sign of remembrance for her mother, brother, and sister who were all lost to cancer. McHenry, team leader of “Force for the Cure Alaska,” cheered on participants in a pink Tusken Raider costume.

“It is a positive event,” she said. “Usually you associate cancer with death, but here you are surrounded by survivors and caretakers. Relay for Life really shows you it does help to donate.”

For Evergreen Bookkeeping team leader Kym Mauseth, Relay for Life grew in importance over a span of 17 years as she lost family and friends, including her father in 2011, to cancer.

“I come back to relay because I want to see an end to cancer in my lifetime,” Mauseth said. “ This event gives survivors a chance to celebrate, also it encourages and inspires those with recent diagnosis.”

Fifteen teams participated in the 2017 Relay for Life of Juneau with about 200 people in attendance throughout the six-hour event, according to ACS Event Coordinator Hannah Ray.

The Relay for Life of Juneau teams have raised together a total $39,700 out of a $60,000 goal, which ends Aug. 31, said Ray.

The money raised helps fund cancer research, patient care programs, education and free information. ACS patient programs in Alaska includes a list of services from appointment transportation, insurance assistance, to creating an emotional support network for survivors and caregivers.

Throughout the event, games, activities and a silent auction kept participants busy. One of the more popular activities was decorating paper bags for the Luminaria Ceremony. A steady flow of friends and family members of cancer victims sat down at the Luminaria table and decorated bags with stickers, crayons, and colored markers.

Those who sat down to make a luminaire were greeted by volunteers Paula Johnson and Sue Crocker.

Crocker, who has participated in the Relay for Life of Juneau for 14 years, said she attributes her losses of friends and family to cancer as to why she comes back to the event year after year.

As the night came to a close the lights dimmed for the Luminaria Ceremony which was held along the Field House. Hundreds of luminaria bags honoring those who lost their battle to cancer outlined the track, with lights flickering inside each one.

This powerful ceremony is meant to give relay participants the opportunity to grieve while also offering hope and comfort.

An estimated 3,600 Alaskans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2017, according to the ACS’s Cancer Facts & Figures 2017.

As this year’s Relay for Life comes to a close, Ray said she is already looking foward to next year’s event and beyond.

“To have the best event possible it really is having each part of the community here — we want the hospitals, we want young people, all kinds of kinds,” Ray said. “If someone has a skill, we have a spot for them.”

To donate or for more information on the Relay for Life of Juneau contact Hannah Ray by email hannah.ray@cancer.org or phone (907) 273-2077.

 

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• Erin Laughlin is a student journalist at the University of Alaska Southeast, and she can be reached at laugerin@me.com.

 

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