Editor:
Planning for an event on a sunny June day seems very far away from these gloomy November days but that is what I have been doing.
We have begun planning for the Relay For Life 2013 in Grand Forks and I will be participating with a heavy heart.
This past summer, my sister passed away from cancer.
This is not the first person I have lost to cancer and probably won’t be the last.
Being a volunteer helps me channel some of that grief and anger into something positive.
As the chairperson of our relay’s Luminary ceremony, I can channel it in two ways.
I can help raise money for research to help eliminate cancer and to help fund programs through the Canadian Cancer Society to help people dealing with this disease. The second way I can help is to help those of us left here with our grief and with nowhere to target it.
I am grateful to help give everyone that is dealing with cancer (in some way) a place to come together.
At the luminary ceremony we cry, we laugh but mostly we remember people we have lost and honour people who are dealing with the disease.
As we plan for the relay in 2013, our attention turns to getting our teams to sign up for the upcoming year, to help us raise the funds, but it also turns to our other need of signing up volunteers.
We always need volunteers. I told you why I volunteer, other people may have their own reasons or may just want to come out on a beautiful June day, in the sunshine (hopefully) and put in a few hours for a good cause.
I hope anyone reading this letter will consider giving some time to the Relay For Life 2013, whether it is as part of a relay team or as a volunteer. We would greatly appreciate your help. Contact us by calling Jacquie Wolf or Jenn Edwards at 250-442-3332 (daytime) or 250-443-3002 (evening) or stop in to see them at Yaki Jacquie’s Café.
Myrna Logan, Grand Forks