Love, Dedication and Team work helped Mary's Elephant win the Spirit of Relay Award
Love, Dedication and Team work help Mary's Elephant win the Spirit of Relay Award! We were honored to be part of an amazing Relay for Life team called Mary's Elephants on June 21, 2014. Clicks for a Cause ran a fundraising photo booth and were taking event photos as there didn't seem to be an official photographer in sight to capture this touching event. I was personally on the team as the team captain is my best friend, Anita. I have blogged about her and her efforts to support those battling cancer and those who have survived cancer. As I documented the event with my camera I could see what a great united team Mary's Elephants was, they even won the Spirit of Relay Award!
The American Cancer Society describes the Spirit of Raley Award as,
"Relay For Life Team & Individual Spirit Award! Everyone that participates in Relay has TEAM spirit! However, some teams go the extra mile when it comes to Relay. Will your group be crowned most spirited team at this year's Relay? Will you be this year's most spirited Relayer? How it works: Team captains and team members earn Spirit Points by completing different Relay asks. Each team must keep track of their own points and turn in tallys at each Team Meeting. The Committee will tally points after each team meeting and during Relay. Recognition and fun prizes will be given during Relay and the Team and Individual awards will be given during the Closing Ceremony on Sunday morning. Our goal is to encourage and foster enthusiasm through participants as well as recognize and support you and your team for all your efforts." www.cancer.org
I asked Anita to share with you what it takes to be the Spirit of Relay in her own words as I share mine with photos.
"Some may ask why I am so passionate about Relay For Life. The answer is not that
simple. I am so passionate because cancer has taken more than one loved one
away from me. Cancer has made others who I love so sick, bringing them to the
brink of death, held them there, and by some miracle, pushed them back to life.
Cancer sucks. Plain and simple. With a growing number of people being diagnosed
every year...every day... it makes a person wonder, not only if they will hear those terrible words
"you have cancer," but when.
What will be happening in their lives when it happens? Who will stand by them?
How will they and their loved ones cope? Who will turn their backs on them? In
reality, being that person, or even being one of the people, who has been a
caregiver for a cancer patient, it can be a big emotional roller coaster.
Seeing someone you love being sick, not being able to do anything to make them
feel better. It’s
hard. I took care of my grandmother in her last few months, luckily, not by
myself. It was hard…but
it was truly an honor to spend that time with her, even when she was so weak
that she couldn’t
eat. My mother, aunts and sister-in-law and some of our close family friends all
had times that we would stay overnight with gram.
When my nephew was diagnosed
with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2011, many thoughts raced through my head.
He’s too young. Why? And
NO! Luckily, he is in remission now. He has had many ups and downs in his
battle, but always remained a strong kid, a fighter. He lost his hair, just as
my grandmother had, but once it started to grow back, he just kept letting it
grow. He came to the recent Relay For Life, had his own team even, Matt’s Minions. He looked great, sporting
his long hair with a bandana around his head. They all wore shirts with minions
on the front, and on the back they said Matt’s Minions, but his said “MY Minions.” Very cute. I remember visiting him a few times during
his treatment at Children’s
Hospital. The family even held a spaghetti dinner benefit so that the financial
burden of things falling apart at home, like the other four children needing
childcare, vehicle maintenance for the many trips to Pittsburgh, gas, food, and
anything else they might need. My father-in-law, George, recently stopped his
chemo treatments. He has colon cancer and the chemo hasn’t shrunk the cancer, but had made him
very sick, weak and took so much out of him. He will now start a pill to keep
his cancer at bay. His prognosis remains the same. 1 to 5 years. My amazing
sister-in-law, his daughter, Tabitha, came to stay with him during his
treatments, bringing along her son, Erik, who had to switch schools and move
away from his friends in South Carolina. Cancer affects EVERYONE, big or small…it touches us all.
As
someone who was there for family and friends as they went on their cancer
journey, you learn how to cope with ups and downs, the good days and the bad,
and the celebrations when you get good news. Being there for your loved ones is
a lot of work, but it is not as much work as it is to fight cancer. I
had the opportunity to be there for my grandmother and take care of her when
she was sick. I remember the days before her death. My family gathered around
her, tried to get some laughs and smiles and mostly tell her how much we loved
her, as we all knew the time was nearing.
It was the day before she passed away, she was weak, and was getting
back into bed, she squeezed my hand and looked at me with her fading blue eyes,
she was not breathing well, so it took a lot of energy to get words out. She
didn't say anything, but I knew the look... She was telling me she loved me.
When someone is dying, you always wonder if that last time you see them is
going to be the last time. My grandmother
is the main reason that I relay. I relay for the other family members and close
friends who have been diagnosed with cancer. Some of them have lived, some have
not, and some are still fighting with all they have. I am involved with Relay
for Life because of all of the individuals I know, past, present, and those who
I will get to know in the future. |
| Team Celebration was a common thing I saw everywhere Mary's Elephants were |
This
year, my team, Mary's Elephants, was given an award at Relay. We received the Spirit of Relay award. It is a great honor. This award recognizes a
Relay For Life team that exemplifies the true spirit of the Relay For Life
movement. Teams who are nominated for this award have fully engaged all of its
team members through fundraising, survivor and caregiver engagement, and
knowledge of their organization’s
mission in the fight against cancer. Mary’s Elephants accomplishments this year
simply amazes me! We gained several new team members, all so willing to give up
their personal time to help out with fundraisers throughout the year, offering
their help setting things up, cleaning things up, suggesting things, sharing
ideas, coming to monthly team meetings, buying supplies for activities, and
best of all, showing up at Relay For Life and giving their time and effort to
be a part of something so big! We had so many great things going for us this
Relay year, and I think it definitely helped us win this award. I believe that
our goal of having a fundraiser every month from January to May was a part of
our success. The only month that we didn’t
have a fundraiser was April. We did try really hard to come up with something,
but in the end, we all were busy with Easter and our lives. In January, I
hosted a Charity Head Shave that had seven participants, including myself. I
was a bald beauty, and now it’s
June and I have only had my hair cut twice since then. I kind of love my short
hair, and discovering all the new do’s
I am capable of doing, really I think it’s
the “why I have short hair” that I am loving it so much this time.
In May, my father, Tom, put on a Ride for a Cure
motorcycle ride, which we are hoping to make an annual event as well. Four
successful fundraisers! On top of that, team members did their own individual
fundraisers. One member, who is also a photographer (how about that, two
photographers on one team) held a photo fundraiser on her own. Others asked
businesses, family and friends to donate. “For
hitting fundraiser goals, just remember it doesn’t hurt to ask” one of my team members, Marianne said
when asked about getting donations for Relay. She crocheted hats and scarves of
all different sizes and sold them. Even the kids got involved and sold things
like loom bracelets that they made, or art that they drew. Everyone was very
involved.
I
believe that being the team who had the Spirit of Relay really shows in the
eyes of each and every member of my team. I know that we all invite all our
friends and family to attend our fundraisers, events, telling them all about
Relay and how much it means to each of us, as to each of us it means something
different. As the Team Captain of such an amazing group, I know that it takes
some encouraging words, a smile on your face, and a purpose. I try to be as supportive
as much as possible to each of them. We had a very large team, 26 registered
members, and roughly 18 who walked with our group who weren’t registered. We set a goal of $5,000
to raise for Relay. Before Relay For Life, we had raised $3,617.00. At Relay,
we sold hotdogs-or we called them Octodogs because the theme was Under the Sea,
strawberry shortcake, chips, crackers, & bottled water and bagged ice. We
also had three baskets for raffle, and a 50/50. The basket raffles and 50/50
did not go as well as we had hoped. It’s
a learning experience. There were three of us on the team that could facepaint,
my mom, Christina and myself. Together, we painted faces and raised $260 at
Relay just from facepainting!! Another team member, Leslie, made these
suncatchers from pony beads. They were really cool. She also sold headbands
with the purple ribbons on them. Some also had a purple flower on them. Wendy
had the photo booth as well, which was a big hit, even having my husband walk
the track as an advertisement, feather boa’s
and all! 
We brought a Green Screen to go along with the Relay Theme"Under the Sea" for some FUN photos ~ Clicks
Perhaps they all learned something from me doing it in January, or maybe they just wanted a cheap haircut…just kidding. I know they all had it in their hearts. Sharon’s son Michael also was such a big help at Relay, he helped count money and sell hotdogs and would get a bag of ice out of the cooler along with my friend Christina’s son Zane. For being as young as these kids were, and so willing to help, we know that we can count on our future generations a little more.
 |
| These "Survivors" gave Tom (Anita's Dad) a kiss for shaving his head! |
 |
| A great moment between Grandfather and Grandson from Team Mary's Elephants after the shaves their head. |
I
even was able to attend the Survivor dinner, where I was told to choose a table
that I did not know anyone. I got them their drinks, salads, and food. We even
talked a bit. When they asked me for some sugar, not for coffee…but for on top of their chicken
parmesan, I discovered they didn’t
have any, but I knew we had some at our tent, so I went to get some for them.
They were a nice bunch of folks at my table. I even got to mingle with a few
other tables, some familiar faces in that building. It’s unfortunate that there were that many
individuals in that building….unfortunate
that I knew a lot of them. BUT…very
fortunate that they were in that building as SURVIVORS!!! Marianne, one of the
survivors on my team said you can feel the love and support just flowing. She
said she also got the same feeling at the survivor walk with all the teams
standing on the side of the track as you walked the survivor lap. When they are
clapping for you…really
brings tears to the eyes!
Even though I was not a survivor, I was able to drive a golf cart with a
survivor who was not able to walk the track. That was a great feeling, knowing
that this woman sitting beside me had beat that beast!
"The Survivor Lap always brings me to tears seeing the Survivors and their loved ones appreciate every step they take around the track. The first photo below is a high school friend of mine watching as his teenage daughter embraced her grandfather, a survivor. And the sweet little girl to the right is another high school friends young daughter who is a survivor. I know what these families are going through as my Uncle is fighting every day just to have one more day as he has Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer." Wendy
Our
team also participated in the fun lap, skipping around the track. Man that was
exhausting! Haha. We also did other activities, we put on a beach ball race, a
shake your bootie Kleenex box game involving getting a ping pong ball out of
the box as you shake your bootie, octopus craft time-using toilet paper rolls,
painting them and decorating them, and a donut eating contest. Those are just
the activities that our team signed up to put on for all participants at Relay.
Team members participated in other events, like a watermelon eating contest,
obstacle course, and making ice cream in a baggie.
One of my favorite parts
about Relay is the Luminary Ceremony where all the bags with names of those
touched by cancer are placed around the track. There were a lot of names. They
have a candle light ceremony where we all light a candle and do a silent lap.
It’s pretty emotional to
see so many people being so quiet and just walking in unison around that track.
Meadville Relay For Life is full of energy and love. The committee is a great
group of people as well. They are all very easy to speak to and willing to help
you out with any issues you may be having. Relay is a
great event to attend. I encourage anyone to attend an event near them." ~ Anita Jenkins, 2014 Team Captain, Mary's Elephants
I want to THANK Anita from the bottom of my heart for her dedication and courage in sharing her personal story with us and helping bring awareness to Relay for Life. We hope this post inspires you to create a team, support a team and be the Spirit of your next Relay for Life event.
We have included some information about Relay for Life and
The American Society from their website: Cancer.org
Thanks for reading,
Wendy
Clicks for a Cause
What is Relay For Life Today?
The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.
The American Cancer Society Relay For Life program has been a global movement since the first Relay event outside of the US was held in United Kingdom in 1996. Global Relay For Life events are now held in more than 950 communities spanning 19 countries outside the United States. This unique activity, designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for life-saving research and programs, unites and mobilizes community members committed to fighting back cancer. The Global Relay For Life program enables cancer organizations around the world to increase their visibility and generate cancer awareness, outreach, and income while building survivorship, volunteerism and advocacy efforts in their communities.
About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers saving lives and fighting for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. As the largest voluntary health organization, the Society's efforts have contributed to a 20 percent decline in cancer death rates in the U.S. since 1991, and a 50 percent drop in smoking rates. Thanks in part to our progress nearly 14 million Americans who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will celebrate more birthdays this year. As we mark our 100th birthday in 2013, we're determined to finish the fight against cancer. We're finding cures as the nation’s largest private, not-for-profit investor in cancer research, ensuring people facing cancer have the help they need and continuing the fight for access to quality health care, lifesaving screenings, clean air, and more. For more information, to get help, or to join the fight, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.
Visit www.clicks4acause.com to see how we can support you and your fundraising needs.
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