Relay for Life moves south in year seven

Coordinators for the Dickinson County Relay for Life say plans are coming together for the 2010 American Cancer Society fundraiser.

The seventh Dickinson County Relay for Life will be held Saturday, July 10, at the Okoboji High School track and football field in Milford.

Chairwoman Di Lorenzen said team signups and fundraising are well under way.

"We are still working with sponsors and it's not too late for teams to get signed up," she said.

The national theme is "Celebrating More Birthdays," and it rings true for Lorenzen, who was diagnosed in the early stages of Hodgkin's lymphoma in December 2003.

"Actually I was in the best shape of my life," Lorenzen recalls.

She started four months of chemotherapy on Jan. 2, 2004, on her youngest daughter Krista's birthday. Ten rounds of radiation followed.

Doctors have told her she is cancer-free, but they'll never be able to declare her "cured."

"You hope that it never comes back," Lorenzen said.

She calls the health crisis and the impact on her family "life-changing" and it was the drive behind efforts to start a relay in Dickinson County.

Di and her twin sister, Donna Lorenzen organized the first committee meeting for the Dickinson County Relay For Life. The inaugural event was held in the summer of 2004.

"It was going to be my way to give back to others, and to help find a cure so my two daughters and many other people would, hopefully, not have to hear those dreadful words 'you have cancer,'" she said.

Each year at the relay, Lorenzen celebrates another year of being cancer free. It's an event she hope to keep celebrating by helping others to be cancer free as well.

"That was my drive, to help others," Lorenzen said. "I knew that, to make an impact, starting the relay for life was a huge thing I could do. It took the anger that I had of getting it and I turned it into a positive."

SUPPORTIVE VOLUNTEERS

Twin sister Donna has relocated to the East Coast, but Lorenzen feels fortunate to have a nucleus of volunteers who resume roles held in the previous six events.

"There are many on the committee that have been on the committee and doing the job since we started the relay," she said. "So, it's very nice. When we have to move from one location to another location, we have people that know exactly what to do. It's not like training people all over again. We're doing extremely well in getting logistics set up. Everybody just falls in an does their job."

The county relay effort has a Web site www.relayforlife.org/dickinsonctyia for volunteers and sponsors to step forward.

The Dickinson County Relay continues to pick up supporters because Lorenzen finds so many residents who are touched by cancer and want to help.

"The majority of our dollars comes from the team fundraisers; the money that teams raise," Lorenzen said. "We're really pushing the teams to get out there and now is the time to start doing their fundraising and making their goals."

The support from county residents has allowed the local relay to increase the amount raised each year. The goal is $89,000 for 2010.

"But to me, we have a goal, but it's more about everybody raising every dollar that they can," Lorenzen said. "So, my American Cancer Society people have goals for me, but I want to break that goal. My dream is that our county can raise $100,000."

Lorenzen said every dollar raised is another dollar toward a cure.

"Whether people can give $1 or $20 or $100, every dollar counts," she said. "No matter what you can give, if there's somebody that's raising money, selling something or having a fundraiser, if you can't participate in the dollar amount that they're (requesting), if you just to give them something to donate toward the American Cancer Society, by all means do it."

WHAT TO EXPECT

The July 10 relay will begin at 6 p.m. with a series of short and meaningful ceremonies. Once relay laps begin, a member of each team typically remains on the track until 6 a.m.

"We like to have everybody we can at the opening ceremonies," Lorenzen said.

Individuals aren't called on to walk the 12-hour relay by themselves. Team members take turns on the track, with tents set up for rest.

At 9 p.m. all team members are encouraged to participate in a luminary ceremony. A closing ceremony concludes the relay at 6 a.m. Sunday.

Teams also have food and drinks available for sale. Supporters also don't have to belong to a team to participate. Survivors are especially encouraged to come out for the survivors walk.

"All survivors get a free meal and we give them a medallion and other things," Lorenzen said.

Dickinson County Relay coordinators also have a caregiver award, which is handed out as part of opening ceremonies. The recipient is nominated by survivors.

"There are so many things that we, as survivors, would love to do for the people that helped us through our journey and we don't often get a venue like this where we can recognize that, so it is a really touching part of the ceremony."

Lorenzen said she is proud of the committees, the invaluable sponsors and teams for all the work they put into finding a cure.

"It takes each and every one of us to do what we can to win this fight," she said. "There is no "I" in this team, we are all a team in this fight. I hate hearing that someone is diagnosed with cancer, but I know that what we are doing will help them with answers and to get better medications each year so that those diagnosed will get through their fight and win."

Supporting the fight:

Generosity through sponsoring, supporting a fundraiser, or having a Relay For Life team will help us to raise our goal of $89,000 and help create a world with more birthdays. Together with sponsorship support, the American Cancer Society will save lives by helping people stay well, helping people get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back-creating a world where cancer never steals another year from someone's life. Thanks to this work, more than 11 million cancer survivors in America, as well as countless others who have avoided the disease, will celebrate a birthday this year.

Fast facts:

* With 96 percent brand recognition, the American Cancer Society continues to be one of the best known and most respected charities. We are also the most trusted source for cancer information according to a recent Harris Interactive poll.

* Every 30 seconds someone calls the American Cancer Society. Our trained Cancer Information Specialists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help people stay well and get well by serving callers in 90 different languages.

* The American Cancer Society is a trusted resource for more than 23 million people who visit cancer.org each year. Our Web site offers access to the latest information and news on cancer and helps people locate programs and services in the area.

* The American Cancer Society works to find cures for all types of cancer and has distributed more than $3.4 billion to researchers since 1946. Forty-four of these researchers have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, medicine's highest accolade (as of September 2009).

Why collaborate with the American Cancer Society to fight cancer?

The American Cancer Society knows that the fight against cancer cannot be tackled alone. That's why we work with numerous health care facilities, cancer and nonprofit organizations, government institutions and corporate sponsors to help achieve the goal of eliminating cancer as a life-threatening disease. And that's why we want to work with you. By supporting the American Cancer Society through the Relay For Life, you are sending a message that you care about the well-being of your community and that you are committed to saving lives.

THE JULY 10 SCHEDULE

3 p.m. Cancer Resource Tent opens (come get information about cancer, prevention and where to get help)

5 p.m. Meal - free to survivors - donation for anyone else

6 p.m. Opening ceremonies

9 p.m. Luminary ceremonies

6 a.m. (July 11) Closing ceremonies