Imagine you’re a junior at Penn State celebrating your twenty-first birthday. The world is your oyster, and the possibilities are endless. Now fast forward just three days, and imagine being told the worst news possible. You have cancer.
Nine years ago Sarah Callahan was that student. Less than 72 hours after her milestone birthday, Sarah was diagnosed with cancer in the form of a ten centimeter endodermal sinus tumor on her left ovary. “In the 1980’s,” Callahan explains, “that diagnosis would have been a death sentence.”
Callahan credits the American Cancer Society and the research they fund with saving her life. She not only survived, but went on to marry and become a mother because oncologists were able to save her right ovary. As a cancer survivor, Callahan participates in Relay For Life and serves as the chairperson for it here in Coronado.
When Callahan and her husband Jim moved to Coronado in 2014, she heard they were looking for volunteers with Coronado’s Relay For Life. “I was on the committee the first year, and last year, when my son was one month old, our committee chair had to step down so I stepped up and took over as chairperson,” she explains. It is her goal as chairperson to “not only help people survive, but thrive.”
Planning for this year’s Coronado Relay For Life is underway. Mark your calendars for the eighteen hour event on Saturday, May 21st from noon until 6:00 am on Sunday, May 22nd at Glorietta Bay Park. The theme of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life: “Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.”
Last year’s event in Coronado, which drew about one hundred participants, was twelve hours long. After receiving a lot of feedback from last year’s participants, who expressed a desire to extend it and include an overnight portion, organizers made this year’s event six hours longer.
Who participated in last year’s Coronado Relay For Life? Katie Foster, Community Manger for Relay For Life, California Division, said last year’s event brought people of all ages. Coronado High School’s NJROTC started off last year’s event, and middle and high school students from the San Diego School of Rock came to perform. More “mature” aged groups of people participated too such as the Rotary Club of Coronado, and the musical band The Rovers performed. The youngest participant was Callahan’s own son, who was just two months old at the time.
Interested in sponsoring or entertaining participants at this year’s event? Foster and Callahan said they “are definitely looking for sponsors and entertainment.” The Rovers are again included in this year’s event as well as “a few unconfirmed surprises.” DJ Derek Binette with dstreet entertainment will be there playing music throughout the event. Organizers are hoping to have a photo booth again like they did last year, and are in the process of trying to organize hour by hour activities to entertain participants, who will take take turns walking laps with their teammates during the eighteen hour event.
Additionally the organizers are looking for food sponsors as well as people to donate fun give-away items to participants. Coronado’s own Which-Wich provided peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to last year’s participants. Local businesses and community members who wish to contribute in any way, big or small, are encouraged to contact organizers through the Coronado Relay For Life website. Online donations and mailed donations are both encouraged as well as appreciated. “We’ll take donations in any form,” Foster says.
Want to form your own team? Organizers are looking for teams who want to start fundraising together and then will come walk together. Teams can consist of as few as two people, and there is no age limit. According to Foster, one of the nation’s most successful fundraising groups consists of only two people. Whether your team consists of family members, co-workers, friends, a Bible Study group, scout troop, classmates, teammates, or shipmates, organizers are looking to have as many teams as possible join in this year’s Coronado Relay for Life, representing the varied groups that make Coronado the special place that it is. Even young children who wish to form their own team may do so provided that they have an adult present with them. This year’s goal is to surpass last year’s participation. The 2015 event was held in the summer, and by moving this year’s event to May, organizers are hoping to see an increase in participation from Coronado’s students, who will still be in school, and thus able to form teams with their classmates.
If anyone is interested in joining Coronado’s Relay for Life committee, the group meets once a month. To find out meeting times and locations, email Katie Foster at [email protected]. Callahan says she “strongly, strongly suggests” people join the committee “because it’s such a great cause!” “We have a great group of people, and we’d love some more,” she adds. The next two meetings will be held at the Panera on Orange Avenue at 6:00pm on March 7th and March 22nd.
On March 31st the big kickoff to Coronado’s Relay For Life will be held at Panera from 4:00-8:00pm. Panera will be donating portions of the proceeds during that time slot to people who mention that they’re there to support Relay For Life. There will be a small table with flyers and information about Relay For Life available at Panera that day.
Celebrate: Callahan says they are putting a “call out to survivors in town” to “let us be aware of you and celebrate you.” The opening lap starts with a walk around the track by survivors along with a speech from a survivor. Last year’s speaker was Callahan, and they are currently looking for another Coronado cancer survivor to speak at this year’s event. Foster says, “We are always looking for new connections. You never hear the same story twice with cancer, and I think that’s what makes it such a hard disease to cure. Everyone has a different story about how their own cancer was found.” Survivors are not only given special recognition as they make their lap, they are given sashes to wear to honor their fight against cancer.
Foster is hopeful more men will participate in this year’s Relay For Life. “We want more men to tell their stories,” she says. Foster feels that many men who have participated in the past have been men who have been caregivers, but she’s seeking more male survivors. She explains that the age of onset in most male cancer cases tends to be later in life. According to Foster, men in general don’t seem to be as vocal sharing their survival stories, and thinks if they did that may lead to earlier detection. She adds, “If there were more men willing to step up, and say, ‘Hey, guys! This is a problem. We need to do something about it,’ that would be a huge help.” Foster wants men to be more aware of the types of cancer they need to look out for so if and when they are diagnosed it’s early enough to fight back.
Remember: Once it gets dark, the track will be lined with luminaria. “Each luminary bag represents the fight people have put up against cancer, including loved ones who have lost their battle with cancer, those who are still fighting it, and those who have beaten it and are in remission,” Foster says. Luminaria will be available for “a suggested donation of $10, but, of course, anyone who wants to dedicate a luminaria will be welcomed to do so,” she adds.
Fight Back: The ceremony will end with everyone gathering together in the morning before they pack up and go home. They will join to remember why they came together, to fight cancer. “Our call to action is to spread awareness,” Foster says. She adds, “The treatment options have come so far.” Some noteworthy statistics she shared include the following:
- The cancer death rate has dropped by 22 percent since 1991, which represents 1.5 million lives saved from the disease.
- In 2015 an estimated 1,658,370 Americans heard the words, “You have cancer.”
- In 2015, an estimated 589,430 Americans lost their lives to cancer. (1,620 per day.)
Foster added, “While Relay For Life is definitely a celebration for cancer survivors, it’s also an event for their caregivers, and/or caregivers for people whose people are no longer with us. We honor the caregivers with their own lap at the start of the event too. A caregiver is defined as anyone who provided any kind of care to a person going through treatment; sitting at chemo, bringing them lunch, driving them to treatment, putting a casserole in the oven for them so they would have dinner when they got home etc. Cancer doesn’t just happen to the person with cancer, it happens to those around them too, so we want to make sure they get recognition for all that they do, and feel supported through their journey.”
It is safe to say that almost every single one of us here in Coronado personally knows someone who has been affected by cancer in some way. Maybe it was a loved one. Maybe it was a co-worker. Maybe it was a distant friend’s next door neighbor’s uncle’s former college roommate. Who knows? Maybe it was even you. The bottom line is that cancer does not discriminate. We all dread hearing those three words, “You have cancer.” Together the residents of the Crown City can unite to help the American Cancer Society by participating in and/or supporting the 2016 Coronado Relay For Life. Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.
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