GUELPH/ERAMOSA – For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the local Relay for Life fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society will return to Guelph Lake next month.
After two years of virtual events followed by three more in Breslau, event co-director Kayla McInnes is pleased to be returning to Guelph Lake Conservation Area.
“We just feel our participants really missed Guelph Lake, I don’t think there’s much that can beat that venue,” said McInnes. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
Started in 1999, the Relay For Life allows participants of all ages to gather in a community space and take turns walking around a track or path, which symbolizes the “perseverance and action needed to improve life and change the future of cancer forever,” according to the Canadian Cancer Society website.
The event is scheduled for June 7 and while it’s been rebranded as Relay Your Way, McInnes said it will still have many of the same events that participants have enjoyed in the past.
That includes an opening ceremony and survivors lap, and the annual luminary ceremony where people can light candles after the sun goes down, write messages of hope, and take time to reflect.
Money raised helps patients get to their cancer treatments, provides peer support programs, funds wigs, headwear and breast prostheses, and funds critical cancer research.
It is estimated that about two in five Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime, and about one in four will die from the disease.
McInnes said about 10 teams are already registered and close to 100 people.
She hopes to get about 200 people out this year, with the goal of raising $10,000 in what she admits is a bit of a rebuilding year with the event returning to Guelph Lake.
Officials are also looking for more volunteers to help on the day of the event.
Food, coffee and snacks will also be provided. The opening ceremony is at 2pm and the event will wrap up around 10pm.
McInnes asks anyone interested in attending to register online to give organizers an idea of how many people will attend.
Everyone who registers is asked to strive to raise $150, but every little bit helps.
“Even if you can just fundraise $20, that is fantastic,” McInnes said.
For more information or to register a team, email guelphrelay@gmail.com or visit the event website.
