Relay For Life is cancelled but that is not stopping the local committee from keeping the spirit bright!

This year’s Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life has been cancelled country-wide due to COVID-19, but the society is rolling with the punches and doing an online event instead. Relay At Home will feature interactive activities, celebrate survivors, and pause to remember those who have lost their fight to the disease. Locally, organizers are gearing up to bring a bit of light to the darkness. Committee Chair Niki Underwood said that they will still be selling luminaires and are hoping to see the trail at Rotary Park lit up just like it has been each year.

“We are going to practice social distancing and place the luminaries around the track at 9 am on Saturday, June 13, and they will stay there until 9 am the next day. People can walk around the track at their leisure, not touching them and keeping the six-foot distance between each other and remember loved ones or honour anyone that is fighting this disease right now.” Underwood said that they received the green light to do it from both the Town of Whitecourt and the Canadian Cancer Society.

“We will then walk around the track at dusk and turn on the lights,” she said. Even though the weather is looking to be a bit wet, the lights will still shine as they are battery-powered. “It’ll be a nice walk if anyone wants to take the time for a midnight walk or take the dog out late. I think it will be a peaceful experience at our local park.” 

Another tradition that has been happening at the Whitecourt event for the past few years is the butterfly release. “We have 50 butterflies sponsored by LB Energy Services, and they are still getting delivered to town. Our committee will be reaching out to our survivors that attended the last Relay For Life, since we cannot contact everyone, as there are far too many cancer fighters in our town. We are going to deliver them each a butterfly, and they will be able to release it with their family or whenever they wish to do so that day,” explained Underwood.

Though she wishes that she could get a butterfly into the hands of someone newly diagnosed too, she said that privacy issues keep that from being possible. “We will reach out to our past attendants, and hopefully, it gives them a boost to keep going with all they are doing in life.  We are happy that we get to do that!” She said that getting to do these small parts of the relay event will go a long way to keep the spirit of the relay in people’s minds. “We don’t want people to forget.”

Underwood said that any fundraising that teams have already done could get handed in at any time, and she said she would pass those funds up to head office. “They are not encouraging face-to-face fundraising this year. They want everyone to do online fundraising for safety precautions.” For the luminaries, Underwood said that she could be reached at 780-706-0129. “They can text or call me, and they can e-transfer the money for the luminaries.”

They cost just five dollars, and so far, there are roughly 60 that have sold. “We can write on the bags for you. It is either in honour of, for someone currently fighting or who has fought the disease, or in memory, if they have lost a loved one. We can put names on the bags, and then we will put it up for them around the track.” Underwood said that a few people had asked her if they could decorate the bags themselves, and she said that they could accommodate that request. 

“We can drop them off at their home, and they can decorate them. Then they have to drop them off at the park. We just can’t do a decorating station like we normally do at the relay.” Typically, Underwood said that they sell close to 400 luminaries, but she does not have a goal in mind this year. “I would have set it up if we only sold 10. We want to be out there and do this for anyone that wants to have a luminary out. We are doing this as a tribute.” For more information on the online Relay For Life, residents are encouraged to visit www.cancer.ca. To purchase a luminary before the June 13 placement at Rotary Park, please contact Niki Underwood at 780-706-0129. The local relay group can also be contacted on Facebook by searching “Canadian Cancer Society Whitecourt Relay For Life.”