Relay For Life kicks off with Survivors Lap on Friday

Relay For Life of Oak Ridge will kick off with a special Survivors Lap on Friday. It’s a moving experience honoring those who have defeated cancer, a press release said.

Survivors will join together to walk the opening lap, unified in victory and hope, while the rest of the event’s participants surround the track to cheer them on. This empowering celebration is just a small piece of the special experience of Relay For Life, the release said.

Relay For Life is a unique grassroots fundraising event in which individuals and teams of participants in more than 6,100 communities nationwide walk around a track overnight to celebrate the lives of those who have faced cancer, remember loved ones lost, and commit to fight back against the disease. The money raised through Relay For Life supports the efforts of the American Cancer Society to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.

The Survivors Lap starts at 6 p.m. Friday at Oak Ridge High School. Relay for Life continues until midnight at Ben Martin Track at ORHS.

Relay For Life events are held at an athletic track, park, or fairground, with the goal of keeping at least one team member on the track or pathway at all times. Teams do most of their fundraising prior to the event, but some teams also hold creative fundraisers at their camp sites at the event. Relay For Life brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools, and faith-based groups to finish the fight against cancer.

If you are a cancer survivor or caregiver and would like to take part in the Relay For Life of Oak Ridge, call your American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.relay.forlife.org.

The American Cancer Society saves lives and creates more birthdays by helping people stay well, by helping people get well, by finding cures and by fighting back. For more information, contact the American Cancer Society at (800) 227-2345 or visit us at cancer.org.