Relay for Life walkers walk around Tooele City Park June 19, 2009. Fundraising efforts for the relay start this week with a talent show.
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Loading...A talent show will be held this Saturday to kick off Tooele County’s Relay for Life fundraising efforts for cancer research.
Cacye Freyensee, publicity chair for the Tooele County Relay for Life, said the kick off is called the Tooele’s Got Talent Show. People have signed up to sing, dance and do gymnastics routines. The show is meant to inform citizens about Relay for Life and how they can participate. “The talent show is our annual Relay for Life kick-off,” said Freyensee. “We hold it so that we can tell everyone what the relay is, about fundraisers we hold between now and August, and then what the meaning of the Relay for Life is. A lot of people think it’s a race or a run, but the actual relay is just one person on the track walking or running from their team at all times. It’s about raising hope and awareness for cancer.”
Relay for Life is an annual walk that takes place in August across the nation. Relay teams camp out overnight and take turns walking or running around a track. Relay events are typically 24 hours long. Because cancer never sleeps, each team is asked to have at least one participant on the track at all times. This year’s Relay for Life event in Tooele County will be held Aug. 9 at Deseret Peak Complex.
This Saturday’s talent show will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Deseret Peak Complex. Besides entertainment, there will also be a variety of food vendors, including Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Little Caesar’s and Del Taco.
During the event, teams who want to participate in August’s relay can register. The cost is $10 per team.
Last year’s Tooele County Relay for Life had 26 teams and raised $26,000. It also had 35 survivors at the survivor dinner before the relay began.
“This year our goal is to get 30 teams and so far we have 13 registered,” Freyensee said. “We’re definitely looking for more teams. Our goal is also to raise $45,000 this year and have 50 survivors attend our dinner.”
After a team has registered, Freyensee said they can spend the next several months raising money for the American Cancer Society, which uses the funds primarily for cancer research. In the past, Freyensee said people have done bake sales, car washes, auctions and dinner theaters to raise money.
“The teams fundraise throughout the year,” she said. “Each team does different fundraisers, and then 100 percent of their fundraising goes to the American Cancer Society.”
Those interested in participating in the talent show can call Brisi Wynia at 435-830-4873. Those who would like to register a team for Relay for Life but can’t attend Saturday’s kick off, can visit www. relayforlife.org/tooeleut.
