Local residents and businesses teamed up Friday evening into Saturday to raise money for cancer research in this year’s American Cancer Society Relay For Life event which took place on the track at USU Eastern.
Over $40,000 was raised, with $22,000 of that coming from sponsors.
Terri Lott, event chair, has had family members pass away due to cancer and realizes the importance of raising money for research.
“You have to be pretty enthused and passionate about finding a cure for cancer,” she said in an interview with etv10news.com. “I’ve had my sister and my father pass away from cancer and a very dear friend pass away so I am very passionate about finding a cure. We can only do that through research and that takes money”
A total of 16 teams participated, down from a year ago.
“Our numbers were smaller this year but we’re probably going to have raised more this year than we did last year which is awesome,” LottВ continued. “That’s just such a great feeling.”
There was a also a “Bark For Life” event held Saturday to honor dogs who are or have been diagnosed with cancer. Only 5-6 dogs showed up with their owners.
Approximately 190 totalВ participants joined together for this year’s event. At least one person on each team had to be on the track at all times. Sponsors pay a certain amount of money per lap walked.
Local singer Al Shakespeare providedВ entertainmentВ during the event.