Wesley Chapel High Hosts Relay for Life

The Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society (ACS) will be held from Friday, April 1, at 6 p.m., until 6 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, at Wesley Chapel High on Wells Rd. The annual event will be fun for families while it’s open to the public Friday evening until 10 p.m., and event organizers invite everyone to attend.

Last year, 28 teams raised more than $50,000 at the Wesley Chapel/Wiregrass Ranch Relay. The money is used for cancer research, to support cancer patients (with rides to chemotherapy, help paying medical bills, information about cancer treatments and more).

This year, there are 32 teams signed up, and more than $30,000 already has been raised to date. The event organizers’ goal is to raise $65,000. Of the 32 teams signed up, eight are from local schools. Multiple teams are registered from both Wesley Chapel and Wiregrass Ranch high schools, and elementary schools including Watergrass, Wesley Chapel, Veterans and Quail Hollow also are supporting the effort.

Each team will display a booth exhibiting this year’s theme, Dr. Seuss. Each booth will be decorated to reflect one of Dr. Seuss’s books. There will be food vendors, plus drinks, snacks and treats available for purchase at some of the booths. Crafts, jewelry, scarves and other items also will be available for sale, and there will be face painting and other fun for the kids. There also are always plenty of prizes, and many baskets will be raffled off. All proceeds raised will benefit the ACS.

Parks Ford of Wesley Chapel will be there with new cars available for a test drive from 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. Everyone who is 18 or older is invited to test drive a Ford at the event, and Parks Ford will donate $20 to the Relay for each test drive, up to $6,000.

“It’s not too late to join a team, form a team, or donate to a team,” says Barb Chenoweth, a member of the event’s leadership team. She adds that organizers are still looking for sponsors, which will receive benefits such promotional signage at the event, names on t-shirts, and on the event website. “We need the community to support the cause of finishing the fight to end all cancers from claiming people we love,” Chenoweth says.

The cause is dear to Chenoweth’s heart, because she herself is a cancer survivor. She will participate in the kickoff to the evening’s events, which is the “survivor lap,” where all cancer survivors and caregivers walk a lap on the track together. The survivors and caregivers are then treated to dinner.

All cancer survivors in the community are invited to register and participate in these events. To register as a survivor or caregiver, please e-mail amanda.aufiero@cancer.org or call 949-0291.

At 9 p.m., luminarias that have been decorated in honor of cancer survivors and in memory of those loved ones lost to cancer will be lit, which is always a beautiful tribute around the track. The event will be closed to the public at 10 p.m., while registered team members will continue walking the track throughout the night and into the morning.

Another way to support the event is to come to a wine and food pairing, hosted by A Time for Wine, at A Dash of Salt N Pepper on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa on Tuesday, March 15, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $30. Make your reservation by calling A Time for Wine at 664-1430.

To learn more about Relay for Life, visit the event website at RelayForLife.org/WesleyChapelFL.