A healthy dose of optimism, perseverance and a little purple “pill,” taken with a “glass-half-full” outlook on life, will lead to a cure.
Ask any survivor: one day the world will be cancer-free.
“You will see that one day there will be a cure,” Karla Sharkey, Relay for Life event chair, told a crowd Wednesday evening in Oak Harbor while holding up a small plastic dish containing a dark purple “pill” with the word “CURE” printed in black on its hard candy shell.
To the room full of Relay for Lifers, the pill represents the promise of a panacea.
About 120 people took part in the symbolic inoculation against the disease, which accounts for one in four deaths.
In the past year 32,380 people were diagnosed as first-time cancer patients.
“If one person can battle cancer, a nation can defeat it,” advocacy chair Patrice Campbell said, calling for a cure by 2015.
The money raised through Relay for Life goes toward the American Cancer Society for research, which has provided grant support to 42 scientists who have gone on to win the Nobel Prize for their work.
The disease does not discriminate by age, gender or race: Young, old, men and women, black, red, yellow, white, no one is immune.
Dylan Grose is proof that cancer can strike at any age. At 13-years-old, the curly-haired, soft spoken kid received his diagnosis. Now 16-years-old, Grose expects doctors to deem his body free-and-clear of cancer in February.
The teen fought off the dirsease with low-dose chemo and plenty of optimism.
“I went through the thing with a smile on my face,” he said.
Last year young Grose walked with a team called “Hard Stuff,” and he plans to walk again with family and friends this June.
So far, 38 teams are signed up for the walk and the Relay for Life committee hopes to add at least 52 more to reach their goal.
“We are well on our way,” Sam Tanner said, “but 90 does not need to be the limit.”
Last year’s fundraising efforts netted $193,768 and Relay organizers hope to raise even more money this year, Sharkey said.
Relay is not just for cancer survivors; the event welcomes caregivers, family and friends to volunteer and participate in the all-day celebration of life. Kickoff decorations gave just a taste of what is to be expected at the big event.
White luminary bags printed with the phrases, “In memory of,” “In celebration of,” and “For the fight of,” decorated the tables. Part of the fundraising process, the bags are available for sponsorship, and will line the track during the June 5 and 6 Relay for Life 24-hour walk-a-thon at North Whidbey Middle School.
For more information, call event chair Karla Sharkey at 675-8091, email kksharkey123@comcast.net, or attend the next Relay Rally at the Elks Club on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
