Relay for Life walks to fight cancer

Relay for Life Friday sought to raise money in Havre to donate to the cause of finding a cure for cancer.

The event began with a barbecue and opening flag ceremony in which the cancer survivors and caregivers who attended the event began the first lap.

After cancer survivors made the first lap of the night, the teams were announced and they each did a lap.

Throughout the night, attendees could take part in the silent auction, karaoke and Zumba, and they could eat the foods of various restaurants which visited the event throughout the night. Pizza Hut, Henny Penny Cupcakes and Taco John’s all set up booths from midnight on.

Lori Roberts has been a co-chair for the Relay for Life event for around a year but has taken part in the relay for around 17 years.

Roberts said the biggest point in the night is the lighting of the luminarias at 10 p.m., which is an emotional event that draws the most people to the event.

Around 200 participants were walking to support cancer awareness walk many hours through the night.

“By the end of the night, you’re getting more and more tired,” Roberts said. “By the time you’re done with it, cancer survivors don’t get the option to stop. They don’t get the option to rest and that’s kind of our theme. You have to keep going, you have to keep walking, you have to keep fighting because they can’t stop.”

All the money raised by the event, and in the fundraising before it, goes to the American Cancer Society, but 75 percent of the money raised by the Havre area will come back to it. Roberts said the money is used to help cancer patients in the community with expenses like wigs, lodging and support groups. Those afflicted with cancer call the ACS and they set them up and help them out, she said.

Kyndra Moore is also a co-chair of the committee for Relay for Life.

“Relay for Life is an event to help raise awareness of cancer and what people who have cancer go through,” Moore said. “ … I think it’s a good thing for the community to take part of.”

Moore said cancer is abundant in our area, so many people are affected by it.

Reba Domire, the third co-chair, agreed. She said she joined Relay for Life after her grandmother passed away from cancer 12 years ago and she married her husband, who also lost loved ones to the disease.

“We just can’t let this one go, so we just keep going,” Domire said. “Because every person has been touched by cancer some time in their life and it they haven’t so far, they will be soon.”

As of this morning's deadline, all the paperwork for donations had not been processed completely, but the fundraising totaled so far has brought in more than $32,000 for the ACS.