June 19th the Relay for Life happened in my town. The idea for a team started after taking my daughter to a committee meeting because her father was not available to take her. I got to thinking about how I had not given back to the community...I had been selfish for a number of years covering my own wounds from grief. My daughter's involvement sparked me to do something good.
I started a team for our hospital, Corning ER and Friends, in hopes that my co-workers would join me in the fight against cancer. It has touched all of our lives in some way or another. Recently I have lost a lot of family to cancer. I have some family who has survived it, including myself, and some who may not. Each journey is different. Each struggle personal.
To raise money, I made eye pillows that were filled with rice and scented with Lavender, Peppermint, or Bergamot. I was surprised at how well received it was in pre-sales (not so much at the event), but my co-workers really bought them up and I hope they provide some comfort in the end. I also had hand made journals for sale. Robin Cooper made beautiful tote bags that we raffled off and Vicki Knarr did chair massages at the event which was greatly received. Melody Ginnan came and watched the sales table for part of the night.
My best girlfriend Marlene Greenall stuck it out all night with me. She walked as much as she could and kept me going in the hours when I could have dropped on the ground and fell asleep. I walked 17 miles in less than 24 hours and I hurt for a week afterwards, but nothing takes away that feeling that something good was done here. My favorite and most humbling moment was when I had to walk the Survivor's lap. People applauding that fact that I was still alive and inside I felt like maybe I didn't deserve that honor. My struggle was more emotional than physical and after my surgery I did not need any kind of chemo or radiation, but there was a point where they told me I might not have children. I was 27 years old. It was devastating, but I thought, at least I will have my life. As I made my way around the track, my daughter came up beside me and asked if she could walk with me because she was pretty glad I was still alive. It was hard to hold back the tears of joy to be there with all of these people who had fought and won, to remember all of those people who didn't win.
I love that my co-workers came out to support the even, donated their money and their time. Thank you Kristen Heck, Melanie Vanzile, Vicki Knarr, Robin Cooper, Tammy Monahan, Andrea Champion, Stephanie Manning, Meloday Ginnan, Tina Losey, Marlene Greenall,and Mary Buth. We even had a few folks from Rural Metro show up to give their support. Thanks Billy Sanford and Joe Hawkins!
Our team looked to raise $1,000 and we beat our goal at $1,100!! Our event hoped to raise $85,000 and we blew it out of the water raising $106,000 making us the largest fundraiser in our region! Us..tiny little Corning, NY. Great job to our community and to everyone that came out. It was a blessed evening and I can't wait to do it again next year with a little more time to prepare. Love you all.
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