Are you ready to relay?

LEWISPORTE - The Lewisporte area organizing committee of the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life would like to tell you more about the relay and how you can get involved.

Committee members Tracy Dawe and Sandra Connors have taken on the task of team recruitment for the 2008 Relay for life, scheduled for Sept. 6 from 12 noon to 12 midnight.

Ms. Dawe and Ms. Connors have been busy visiting church groups and service organizations throughout the area providing them with information about the relay and how they can get involved.

"We volunteered to go around to different service organizations, churches, local groups like Kinsmen, Lions, firefighters, to try to get different people, different faces, involved," explained Ms. Dawe. "A lot of people are not informed about what the relay is all about."

The ladies are making themselves available to speak to groups at their convenience. They are also available to provide any information people may be looking for with respect to the Relay for Life.

"Any questions they may have that we don't know the answers to we will see that we go to the right sources to get the answers for them," said Ms. Dawe.

These presentations are geared to ward getting the message out, proving information on the relay. By contacting them to come and do a presentation, it does not commit a group to get involved in the relay.

Ms. Dawe said the goal Ms. Connors and her have set for themselves is to raise awareness about the relay, get more people involved, recruit more volunteers and to get more cancer survivors out to take part in the relay.

Being a cancer survivor herself, Ms. Connors noted that the cancer survivors have a very important part to play in the relay regardless of whether or not they are on a relay team.

A reception is held for cancer survivors prior to the start of the relay itself then all the cancer survivors parade to the field and open the relay for life with a victory lap. The survivors, all wearing their yellow shirts, are an inspiration for the teams and volunteers taking part. All cancer survivors are encouraged to get out and take part in this reception.

Ms. Dawe and Ms. Connors also want to make people aware that the Relay for Life is open to the public, you don't have to be a team member to be on the soccer pitch during the relay. Members of the general public are welcomed and encouraged to get out and take in the activities throughout the day, particularly the luminary service at dusk.

Ms. Dawe said they have spoken with six groups thus far and have had positive feedback from it.

"So far from out presentations we have got three teams and a possibility of one more," said Ms. Dawe. "It is looking good so far."

If there are groups or organizations that would like to have Ms. Dawe and Ms. Connors visit their group to do a presentation on the Relay they can contact Ms. Connors at 535-0840 during working hours or after 4 p.m. she can be reached at 261-2237, Ms. Dawe can be reached at 535-2249 during the day or 535-8732 in the evenings.

There were 18 teams registered last year with $52,000 raised. The recruiters said their goal for this year is to exceed the number of teams registered and the amount of money raised in 2007.