As of Friday, Hollister’s seventh annual Relay for Life had
raised $95,108 for the American Cancer Society, almost half of its
$215,000 goal, according to a preliminary count of donations raised
by individual teams.
Hollister – As of Friday, Hollister’s seventh annual Relay for Life had raised $95,108 for the American Cancer Society, almost half of its $215,000 goal, according to a preliminary count of donations raised by individual teams.
“The people in this community are incredibly generous,” said event chairperson Jeana Arnold. “So many people come out and give all they can. This is our biggest year to date.”
The Relay for Life is an overnight event taking place at San Benito High’s Andy Hardin Stadium designed to celebrate cancer survivors. Over 350 appeared at the Relay, with many of them walking the initial Survivor’s Lap.
Participants also honor those who have passed, and raise money for research and support programs. Community members and businesses organize teams to set up camp on the field and take turns walking or running laps around the track. Ideally, at least one member from each team will be on the track at all times. All of the funds raised will be used for programs within San Benito County.
The event, which began last night at 5pm and will conclude at the same time tonight, is open to the public. Most of the individual teams will be raffling off gifts to raise additional money.
The “Hearts on Crusade” team took away the Christopher Peroni award for overall team achievement last year, and is traditionally one of the most active teams participating. So far it has raised over $26,000.
“I’m a breast cancer survivor of three years,” said team captain Carol Tortorelli. “I felt that I was so lucky that I wanted to give something back. I gathered up a bunch of angels and here we all are.”
The award for the largest team, however, may well go to Milgard Windows, with some 200 members.
“We bus the entire swing shift over to the stadium,” said company spokesperson Diana Avila. “Even if we don’t raise the most money, we hope our large presence will generate the most awareness. Our company founder, Gary Milgard, passed away three weeks ago due to cancer, so it was especially important to us to make a strong showing this year.”
Not everyone attending is a seasoned participant. Matthew Olejnik, a P.E. teacher and wrestling coach at SBHS for 11 years, is participating in the “Coaches vs. Cancer” team for the first time, along with his children.
“Everyone on my team raised at least $150,” he said. “I wanted to do something worthwhile with my kids. This is a nice way to end a nice summer.”
“Everybody has something to give,” said Arnold. “Whether it’s time, money, energy, enthusiasm or support. Everyone is welcome, and we want to see as many members of the community come out and support us as we can.”
