By Gary Nager
I have recounted my personal connection many times, but it seems that most everyone has been touched by the scourge of our time — cancer. If you haven’t had a family member or friend who has been victimized by this disease — which affects men, women and children of all ages, races and from every country of the world (see below) — consider yourself lucky.
I, meanwhile, consider myself lucky to have been able to attend many of the American Cancer Society (ACS) Relay for Life events in New Tampa & Wesley Chapel the last 21 years and report about them here.
So, once again, I felt fortunate to be on hand for the 2015 Relay for Life of New Tampa — held May 15-16 around the track at Paul R. Wharton High on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. — which was again a celebration of not only the lives of those who lost their battles with the many forms this dreaded illness, but also of the ongoing battle for the two dozen or so survivors (whether they first contracted the disease 25 years or three months ago) who took the ceremonial first lap around the quarter-mile track at Wharton, followed by a lap with their respective caregivers.
At our press time, which was mid-event (so the stats may vary), there were 615 participants on 44 New Tampa Relay teams — each of which represented a different country for this year’s event — who already had raised $61,560. The biggest fundraising team at our press time was the Wharton National Honor Society (Sweden) team with $10,740 and the largest individual fund raiser being Jennifer Colon of the third-highest-fund-raising “Fun Friends Footin’ it for a Cure” (Greece) team, with $2,070. Colon said she was participating in honor of her close friend Audrey Wagner, who recently lost her battle with cancer.
Congratulations to Erin Stokes, the 2015 ACS coordinator for the New Tampa Relay, and to the event’s entire amazing committee and all of the teams, participants and sponsors who made the overnight event at Wharton another resounding success!
For more information or to make a donation to the 2015 New Tampa Relay, visit Relay.ACSEvents.org and search “New Tampa.”
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