Summerset Orchards hosted Brentwood area cancer survivors May 4 as the local American Cancer Society's Relay for Life organization sponsored its Second Annual Ice Cream Social. The well-attended event was an effort to help survivors pre-register for the Survivor Walk, the traditional kick-off of Brentwood's Relay for Life extravaganza.
The Relay organization has already recruited 96 teams of walkers and is shooting for a total of 125 teams. The event raised over $280,000 last year and has set a goal of $325,000 for 2008. It's hoped that this year's survivor count will total 225.
Relay for Life Co-chair Jeff Schults said Brentwood's participation in this national fundraiser Is an event like the city's CornFest. It has taken on a life of its own. Brentwood's Relay for Life has been statistically in the top 10 percent of all cities in the country since its inception. This year the event will begin enrolling participants on June 21 at Liberty Union High School, 850 Second St., between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Several cancer survivors were recognized at the Ice Cream Social and included the youngest survivor, 6-year-old Emily Davis, diagnosed with leukemia in 2005. One of the longest survivors (28 years) is Relay for Life chair Fran Bowman, diagnosed when her first son was born. Bowman was very happy with the Ice Cream Social turnout. It went very well better than last year and I met some new survivors. I'm always happily surprised when our community comes together like this.
After the event, Schults said that Brentwood is one of only 12 California communities participating in the Cancer Prevention Study-3, a quest to determine factors that cause or prevent cancer. Persons between the ages of 30 and 65 who have never been diagnosed with a form of cancer can participate in the study by enrolling at the Relay for Life event.
Schults echoed the study's flyer when he said, Tell everyone you know about this historic opportunity to make a difference in the fight against cancer.
Post a Comment