SIDNEY – The current money raised for this year’s Relay for Life is $63,462.86 and counting, according to Jennifer Lyons, an event leadership team (ELT) committee member.
More money will still trickle in as some fundraisers have not been included in the total yet, and the ELT committee members will still accept donations before they wrap up this year’s Relay on Aug. 30. There’s still a chance for this year’s total to compete with last year’s total, which reached $73,763.36 by the end of the main event on Aug. 6, 2021.
“This year’s event went really well. We had a really good turnout,” Lyons said. “Obviously it’s not like years before COVID hit, we lost quite a few teams and a lot of people that used to help us, but we’ve been working and growing since then. We had more teams this year than we did last year.”
Thirteen teams and 97 participants joined this year’s event. The Ferguson Construction Company team raised the most with over $20,000, and Mary Stahlman raised the most as a participant with almost $5,000.
Before COVID, Lyons said there were teams who made it to emerald status, which means that they exceeded $25,000 raised.
“I think just getting back out there again is really what’s gonna help us get back up into those numbers again but being such a small group compared to what we used to be, I mean the fact that we’re almost at $75,000 is absolutely mind-blowing,” Lyons said.
The ELT committee members received good feedback from food truck and Relay participants about moving the event to downtown, partly because of the accessibility to local shops in the area, and they are looking into holding it on the courtsquare again next year. The event is usually held on the first Friday in August, so the next event is set to be on Aug. 4, 2023.
Lyons emphasized the importance of volunteers and donors in making this event possible and said that any amount helps the cause.
“It doesn’t matter how little anyone thinks it is, whatever they can give, whatever they can do, it’s more than what they think. Their dollar could be the dollar that finds the cure,” Lyons said.
“There’s always openings for people to come and help. We’re always looking for people to help us put these on, to help us organize and do activities,” Lyons said. “I just wanna reach out to people and tell them they don’t have to feel like they can’t do anything or feel obligated to do something. Just being a part of it and coming and supporting us is good enough. Whatever little bit that they can do is a great help to all of us, especially those of us who have been directly affected.”
For more information about the event and how to participate, visit the Relay for Life of Shelby County Facebook page, talk to any of the ELT committee members, or attend a meeting leading up to next year’s event. Meeting information will be posted on the Facebook page.
