Volunteers work to bring back Relay for Life

The Relay for Life will never give up on the Hi-Line, said volunteers from Havre and Chinook who met Monday in Havre to work on organizing 2019’s event, although many expressed frustration that this year’s June relay was canceled.

“We can’t let this happen,” cancer survivor and volunteer Donna Tilleman said.

She added that the Relay for Life here used to be one of the biggest in the state.

She said the coordinator did no advertising for the event and nobody knew anything about it. She added that she and other volunteers did not hear about its cancellation until the day it was supposed to happen in Chinook, June 29.

Relay for Life is the primary fundraising activity for the American Cancer Society, taking place all across the country since 1985, said Kris Holmes of Missoula, a community development manager for American Cancer Society Inc.

She added that the relay is not a race and the purpose of the event is to honor cancer survivors, those who have died and caregivers. All of the money raised goes to the American Cancer Society, she said, with the money donated to local programs, research, transportation, lodging and free wigs for those who need them.

Holmes said the relay itself is a celebration.

She commended the people working to put the relay on again next year.

“They have committed to moving forward with the relay for next year,” Holmes said. “ … They came together and said, ‘We need to make this happen next year.’”

She added that the event last month was canceled due to a lack of communication between the committee for Havre and Chinook, among other reasons.

Tilleman said the event is a lot of hard work to organize.

She said Blaine County didn’t always have their own relay, but went to the one in Havre. Then, eventually Blaine County organized its own. But two years ago, she added, the two counties decided to co-host the event, holding the relay in Havre in 2017.

The big difference with the organization last year for the 2018 relay, volunteer Reba Domire said, was that it was the first year a community manager from the American Cancer Society was not able to make it into town to assist with organizing the event.

Volunteer Kyndra Hall said it does make a difference. The community organizers acted as a cheerleader and helped guide the volunteers in making the event a success.

Volunteer, cancer survivor, and Relay for Life guest speaker Art Kleinjan said the community manager helped him with sponsorships.

“Every year, the community manager, from the time we started down there, always supplied me with the sponsorship forms,” Art said. “ … This year I heard from nobody, I got nothing, and when I finally started compiling it was too late.”

Tilleman added that there are no plans for the Hi-Line to receive another community manager in town, with the closest one being Holmes in Missoula.

Holmes, who covers the state west of Billings while another coordinator covers Billings and east of that city, said she started in September and doesn’t know how the operation worked before she started.

She said she will be supporting the Hi-Line Relay for Life remotely, the same as all the other regions of the state she is responsible for, but has no plans on coming up directly.

“Every community that I have are so committed and passionate for the relay,” Holmes said. “ … We couldn’t do this without the help of our volunteers.”

The volunteers at Monday’s meeting all agreed that this year, while planning for 2019, the Relay for Life needs as many volunteers as possible to be involved.

Tilleman said that the relay not only needs support from volunteers but the communities. She said she wants to get schools involved again, and senior centers as well as any other partnerships they can find.

“We will never, never, never give up,” Mary Pyette, a volunteer and cancer survivor said.

Hall said the organizers will hold a meeting at the Eagles Club Monday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. and the public is welcome to join.

Pyette said the event brings a high level of therapy as well. She added that being around people who have been through something similar and receiving encouragement from the community can go a long way.

Pyette said people are able to tell their stories at this event and usually there is a speaker or two who will share their stories and give words of encouragement.

Tilleman said she first started as a participant years ago and gradually got more and more involved in the program, from being a team member then on a committee before being a co-chair of the committee, although recently she had stepped back and started participating as a survivor.

“It’s always been very near and dear to my heart,” she said, “so I just want to see it up and running again. This area needs this event; there are a lot of cancer survivors in this area.”

For more information or to find out how to get involved, contact Donna Tilleman at [email protected], Mary Pyette at [email protected], Reba Domire at [email protected] or Kyndra Hall at [email protected].