A closing message for all

“We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.” – Margaret Mead

People with cancer have often turned their cancer into great opportunities. Many people use their cancer to reach out to others in need and still others find a way to finally let others reach out to them. Very often, cancer changes people for the better even when things couldn’t look much worse.

As you all know, "Cancer" and "great opportunities" are typically not used in the same sentence. Which is exactly why I wanted to highlight this observation by Margaret Mead...because that actually is the perfect way to describe what you see here in front of you today. Our Campbell Relay is made up of 1,000 people AND their families AND their friends who support them. Every single one of those people have turned their experiences with Cancer into something great. While each of you are here for your own personal reason, we all share a common goal. We want a cure!

To the survivors, we stand behind you in your fight and we look up to you for your amazing courage. Know that you have a whole army behind you who is rooting for you to beat this and wants to help you crush it!

To the caregivers, we admire your dedication and are amazed by your selflessness to help people in a way you probably never thought you would. You have been handed the absolute toughest job in the world and even though you might not hear it often enough, you are so very valued and appreciated.

To the future Cancer fighters, we hope you are inspired by the efforts put forth today to continue what has been started by all Relay participants. Every one of us sincerely hopes your generation is the last one touched by Cancer and wants to help you continue our mission.

To all of you who have lost a loved one to Cancer, we hope you find some peace today in knowing that many of us have had similar experiences and want to help you honor their memories. Know that we are all the legacy of those who have fought so bravely yet were still taken so unfairly. They would all want us to help spare others from what they went through and that is what we’re doing today.

To those of you who are here simply because you have the compassion, the empathy and the concern to offer your time and energy to this event, we welcome you with open arms to our crazy Relay family and thank you so much for your support! You are truly a rare breed.

So whether you are here to celebrate a survivor’s triumphs, or to remember a loved one’s battle, or to fight back against this disease you hate, we are honored to have you here and hope today gives you the inspiration to continue this fight.


-- Jodi Hale, Relay For Life of Campbell Sponsorship Chair

AI Soldiers and PwC Soldiers

This week's featured team are a pair of teams - AI Soldiers and PwC Soldiers sponsored by Accountants International (AI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). These two teams unite to become just one big team when they relay. Team captains Ricky Laniohan, AI and Sarah Denson, PwC coordinate this incredibly large and enthusiastic group of relay participants.

So far this year they have recruited 37 team members of their 50 person team member goal!

Both teams have participated in several relays and have had a great fundraising history to share.

AI will be participating in their third consecutive Campbell Relay.

2007 AI Raised $8,213.17
2008 AI Raised $7,897.00

PwC has will be participating in their 6th consecutive Campbell Relay.

2004 PwC Raised $17,845.54
2005 PwC Raised $22,893.90
2006 PwC Raised $27,914.18
2007 PwC Raised $11,930.00
2008 PwC Raised $6,448.03

AI Soldiers and PwC Soldiers relay for their family and friends that have been affected by Cancer. AI and PwC will continue the fight against Cancer with the hopes of one day there will be a cure.

AI Soldiers and PwC Soldiers conduct fundraisers both prior to and during Relay. Prior to the Relay event, AI teams up with PwC Soldiers to hold Chevy’s nights, A’s Tailgate/game fundraisers and Aqui Family Fun Nights.

During the Relay for Life event PwC & AI sell Non-Alcoholic Margaritas, Popcorn, Fruit Bowls and Lumpia!

Together AI Soldiers and PwC Soldiers have raised over $103,000 dollars in the past 6 years! Also in 2004,2005, 2006 and 2007 their team had over 100 team members!

These two teams offer the following tips for new teams:

90% of our teams fundraising comes from emails.

1. Don’t be scared to send the emails to anyone and everyone.
2. Make sure to send 3 emails total (one intro and why you Relay, one reminder email with status to date, and one last reminder right before Relay) We notice people donate during the reminder and final email more often then the 1st one sent!

Rose's Rays of Hope I-II-III

Today's featured team is Rose's Rays of Hope I-II-II. Co-captained by Madeline Borges and Maureen Zemanains, this team has 39 members at the time of this post. Co-captain Madeline answered my call for inputs for this blog. This year's relay is the 7th year that Madeline has participated in relay and her 9th relay as she did two relays in two of those years. Madeline's relay story is intertwined with the story of Rose's Rays of Hope I-II-III. She shared it with me and now I will share it with you. Here is the story as told by Madeline:

Nine years ago Rays of Hope was originated in Santa Clara by two dear friends, Captain Rose Stowell and Co-Captain Henrietta Coates. They had told me what relay was about. I thought it was nice what they were doing, but left that thought hanging. Seven years ago my best friend and two other dear friends were diagnosed with cancer. In the same time frame, one of those friends lost her battle in three months. I was in disbelief. Then I found out that Henrietta was diagnosed with cancer. On the Fourth of July of that year I was at Central Park with some family members and friends when some relay volunteers were passing out flyers about Relay for Life. I read the flyer and looked at my husband and said, "I'm going to form a team and do this at least one time." He looked at me and said "who are you going to get to join your team?" I did not have to answer his question as my family and friends said "we will be on your team". We became Fighting Angels of Hope. After that year Henrietta's health was failing and Rose asked if I would walk Henrietta's hours. Henrietta would be there but was too weak to walk. Yes, I did walk with pride and honor, but she was not there as she had lost her battle with cancer. I joined Rose's team at Campbell. Rose's daughter, Maureen, formed her team and it became Rays of Hope I & II. Three years ago Rose kept telling me they needed a Rays of Hope III and talked me into it. We became Rays of Hope I - II - III. I have never regretted it. A year later Rose lost her battle with cancer. In memory of Rose we renamed our team to Rose's Rays of Hope I - II - III. Rose was an inspiration to all of us and is dearly missed. She gave her all to helping Relay for Life as much as she could! As long as I am able, I will continue to keep Rose's Rays of Hope I - II - III ongoing.

For fundraiser's we use to do Texas Hold'em. This was a lot of fun and profitable, but it is no longer allowed. Now we do a raffle. We pre-sell tickets and sell tickets throughout the day during relay. We have been very successful with this and have had great prizes donated by team members and retailers. Maureen has also hosted fund raisers that have been very profitable and is doing some again this year. Her daughter's softball team is doing some as well.

My tip for incoming teams is that it's important to spread the word about relay and to raise whatever money you can. Most important is to never give up and to keep your teams Fighting for a Cure! My personal accomplishments have been to keep my team going and to continue the fight against cancer. I also wanted to walk the entire 24 hours and this I have accomplished twice, once at Santa Clara's Relay and at once at Campbell's Relay.

This is my story and this is why we Relay for Life!

David's Dragons

Co- captained by Kim Carney and Joey Carney, this is the fourth year that David's Dragons has participated in Campbell Relay. And the word participate does not adequately describe the energy expended by members of this team as three of them are key members of this year's committee (Chair, Entertainment and Logistics). Not to forget that last year they were practically the only members of the committee!

Here are Kim's responses to the series of questions that teams were asked to answer so that we could share their stories:

Why do you or your team relay?

Seven days after my second son, Sammy, was born, my husband David was diagnosed with blood cancer. A month later, we headed up to Stanford to start the bone marrow transplant procedure. We celebrated his 39th birthday in the hospital, and a month later he passed away. As David's caretaker, I could only stand by and watch him fight -- first the cancer and then the cure. There is no test developed that could have let us know that the drugs used to have him accept the new immune system would or would not work. We had to go on faith, it was our best chance so we took it. Unfortunately, it was the cure that killed him.

A few months after David passed away, I was driving with Joey and we passed the Campbell Community Center. Joey looked over and saw the Relay and asked what it was. The light turned red and as we stopped, I looked over and said "Oh, that is the Relay for Life. It's people walking to raise money to fight cancer so no one has to go thru what our family has." The light turned green and we drove on. He was quiet for a couple of blocks and then he said "We should do that, Mama. We should do that." I wasn't ready to face what had happened yet at all, so I pulled the Mommy thing and said "Oh it is too late this year honey, maybe next year." And then, I promptly forgot about it. Joey did not. Six months later Joey came to me and said "Mommy, when are we signing up for the race?" I looked at him "Race? What Race." He looked at me like I was an idiot. "you know...the RELAY Race against Cancer." I was flabbergasted. Here was this 7 year old kid and he had kept that relay in the back of his mind all this time.

How could I NOT do it. So our team was born.

Three months after our first Relay, 18 months after my husband had passed away, I realized my own worst fears when I had to face cancer myself. When the doctor called and said "you have cancer" I couldn't speak. It was like lightning striking our family twice! So I started the surgeries and the treatments. Luckily in my case, it was the treatment and a new drug that gives us hope that this is a battle I won't have to fight again.

So why do we relay? How can we not.

Tell us about your fund raising activities – what do you and/or your team do?

What does our team do? Well for the past couple of years, the team fund raising really has taken a back seat as three of our most active members have taken roles on the Committee (Chair, Entertainment and Logistics). Most of our efforts are spent organizing and helping everyone make this event great. We do have the support and the care from David's work Structural Integrity. They sponsor our team each year and are a great help.

If you had one tip to offer a new (incoming) team, what would you share?

If I had one tip or advice to share with an incoming team, I would say to try and get over the fear of asking people to help. To help with a donation, to help with a project. When asked why they hadn't donated, most people responded that they had never been asked. Oh, and also to see whatever amount your team raises as a team win. Every dollar could be the one that helps find the cure!

Note from the blog creator: if you wish to support this team by donating you can do so on Joey and Sam Carney's page.

It's all about the people

Every person at Relay has a story. We come to remember and/or support someone we love. We come to fight back. We come to do something positive. Each team is an extension of its members, somehow becoming a little more than the sum of its parts. Here we will share each of our team's stories if they'd like to tell it. Should you wish to support one of our teams, you can find links to each of their team fund raising pages in the sidebar.

We hope you will follow this blog as each of our teams takes a moment to share all the reasons their team is so special. Because, honestly, they all are.

Campbell Relay for Life 2009

This year marks the beginning of our celebration of 25 years of Relay For Life^®. It also marks the tenth consecutive Campbell Relay for Life. In the past 9 years, Campbell Relay has grown from 20 teams in 2000 to over 60 teams in 2008. Without these teams, there would not be a Campbell Relay. As of April 30th, Campbell has 50 teams registered on-line with more teams expected to register before the event on July 11 - 12, 2009. This blog was created to provide a place to tell the stories of the teams & their members.

One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life^® unites communities across the country each year to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that takes too much.

Relay For Life^® is a fun-filled, overnight event that empowers everyone to help fight cancer by raising money and awareness to support the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission. Teams of people camp out at local high schools, parks, or fairgrounds and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relay For Life^® symbolizes the hope that people lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face the disease have support, and that one day cancer will be eliminated.

If you would like to participate in Campbell Relay, visit the Campbell Relay website to join or form a team. If you need to find a Relay near where you live, you can find and event here.