Relay for Life participants on track at Unionville High School, during the event this past weekend.
EAST MARLBOROUGH — The Kennett – Unionville Relay for Life concluded Saturday morning, June 6, with more 400 people having participated and raising over $60,000. This was an increase of over 60% in participants and over 70% in funds raised from last year. All the funds raised support the American Cancer Society’s research and patient support programs.
“The spread of ages among the top three fund-raising teams demonstrates this was a total community event.” said Jen Dresser, one of the event organizers. “The first two teams in fund raising, Team Hope and Team Life, were organized by students and the third team was Kendal-Crosslands Communities. Clearly that covers a wide age range and mix of our local community residents.”
The fourteen hour Relay event included support from local organizations such as the Kennett Area Y, which provided instructors to lead Zumba, Hula Hoop and other classes on the infield of the Unionville High School track. The Kennett and Unionville School District administrators closed out the Relay with a free community breakfast for everyone, whether they walked the track or not.
Other activities included the Survivor’s lap which recognizes those in the community who are in treatment or have beaten cancer, and the luminaria lap, which recognizes those who have lost their fight with cancer. Thanks to the good weather, hundreds stayed to camp overnight when they took a break from walking the track.
One unique addition this year was a father and daughter team who ran 50 miles each within the 14 hours of the event. They are preparing for an upcoming marathon and used the Relay to test their preparedness while raising funds for the American Cancer Society.
Donations can still be made to the Kennett – Unionville Relay for Life through August by going to www.relayforlife.org/PAkennettunionville. One participating organization, the Longwood Rotary Club, has not closed out its fundraising efforts yet. They still have several weeks of “flocking” households with their flocks of pink flamingos. “Every “flocking” has been paid for by a friend of that family, so we can’t stop until we have finished all those ordered” said Dawn Talley. “This was a far more successful and fun way to raise funds than we imagined.”
