Relay for Life Raises Funds in Fight Against Cancer

The small tent camp on Cougar Field behind Albany Middle School Saturday marked the city's annual Relay for Life – where local volunteers maintain a 24-hour walking or running circuit around the track.

In the event – the American Cancer Society's main fundraiser – volunteers join teams whose members take turns in maintaining a presence on the track or participate individually for as long as they wish.

"It symbolizes that cancer never sleeps, and that's why we give up 24 hours of our day to fight cancer," said Jelli Turingan, event co-chair. It also is meant to "celebrate our survivors, honor the ones we lost and continue to fight back," she said.

Begun in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt of Tacoma, WA, ran and walked for 24 hours around a stadium track, Relay for Life has become an international event or, more accurately, series of events. Local relays are set up at locations such as high schools and parks.

Albany's event began at 10 a.m. Saturday, and music from large speakers set up on the field kept spirits up. Making the selections was club DJ Allen Cain, known to many Albany residents also as the Executive Director of the Solano Avenue Association.

This is the third year that Albany has participated in the event. Turingan said $15,000 was raised in online donations, and that more were being collected at the track. The number of participants who registered online was 150, she said.

The event concludes at 10 .m. Sunday.

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