Relay for Life hits the course Friday at the Grant County Fairgrounds
Participants take part in a past Relay for Life in Moses Lake. Cancer survivors lead the first lap at the 2012 Moses Lake Relay for Life. The 2014 relay is Friday and Saturday at the Grant County Fairgrounds.
MOSES LAKE - Opening ceremonies for the Relay for Life will be at 6 p.m. Friday at the Grant County Fairgrounds.
Money raised through the Relay for Life goes to support the American Cancer Society, specifically to pay for research into the treatment and cure of cancer. The Relay for Life committee set a goal of $115,000, event co-chair Josie Ritter said.
Forty teams will take to the course, about average but slightly fewer than last year, she said. Animals are prohibited, as well as smoking and alcohol, Ritter said.
Traditionally the first lap is led by cancer survivors; after that, teams take to the course and somebody is walking all night. Closing ceremonies are at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The luminary ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. Luminaries are a memorial to people who are fighting cancer or have died from cancer. Each luminary is inscribed with a name, and the candle inside is lit during the ceremony. The luminaries line the course and provide light for the overnight walkers.
Ritter said she has personal experience with the impact of Relay for Life. Funds raised through Relay for Life helped pay for research into treatments that helped save her daughter's life, she said.
Relay is important because cancer is pervasive, she said. "Everybody knows somebody who had cancer," she said.
"Cancer affects too many loved ones."
And Relay for Life participants have plenty to do other than walk. "There's something planned every hour," Ritter said. That includes laps with themes - the Hawaiian lap, the choo-choo lap, the crazy hat lap, among others.
There are games, like bra pong, and contests, like the frozen T-shirts, all night, Ritter said. There will be a bouncy house, a silent auction with more than 50 items, and other events, she said. Some campers decorate their campsites, and some have fundraisers at the campsite during the relay.
There's also the Mr. Relay contest, which involves guys dressing up like girls and working to raise money.
"It's going to be a fun, fun time," she said. "We encourage everyone to come out," especially if they haven't attended the relay before, she said.
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