Cancer survivors walk the first lap Friday evening during the annual all-night Relay for Life at Oak Ridge High School.
More than 500 survivors, family, friends, and supporters walked in a cancer-fighting fundraiser at Oak Ridge High School this past weekend.
Organizers of the annual all-night Relay for Life hoped to raise $80,000 and had already raised $55,000, said Kayla Shelby, an American Cancer Society employee who helped volunteers organize the event.
She said money would be raised throughout the night and during the summer.
The fundraiser supports American Cancer Society efforts to help fight cancer and find a cure for it.
Twenty-six teams participated this year, and walkers came from Oak Ridge, Clinton, Knox County, and Roane County, among other places.
“We have more participation this year than we have over the previous years,” said Kim Leach, 2012 Oak Ridge Relay for Life chair.
A Friday evening ceremony at Relay for Life honors cancer survivors
She said Y-12 National Security Complex probably had the largest team with 182 members.
Leach said the money that is raised will go to the American Cancer Society and then come back to the community. It will be used by the Cancer Resource Center at Methodist Medical Center and also help patients with rides and medication and financial aid, among other things.
Oak Ridge’s Relay For Life was one of more than 5,000 held across the country, according to a Cancer Society press release.
“Everybody has family members that have battled cancer,” Leach said.
To donate or for more information, contact the American Cancer Society at (865) 558-4045.
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