Every year, participation in Pike County’s Relay for Life grows along. And growing with it are dollar amounts that continue to reach staggering sums.

Last year, after reaching $120,ooo in money raised for the American Cancer Society, event organizers knew that they had tapped into something meaningful to the people of Pike County. Setting a higher goal, they plunged ahead in the hopes that they could raise $125,000 for the event in 2000.

And boy, did they ever do that. Friday night, Relay chairman Nedetria Talbot made the announcement that $160,000 had been raised and money was still coming in. That means that a modest community of fewer than 30,000 residents saw nearly $3 per person in the entire county going to the event, making this year’s fundraiser the largest ever for Pike County Relay.

Throughout the community, businesses and individuals aggressively went out with a mission to help raise money to fight cancer. A growing number of cancer survivors in the community helped rally people to the call. All of us have been affected by cancer in one way or another, whether it has hit us directly or has affected a family member or friend. Oftentimes, it is a silent and swift killer.

As the number of people affected by cancer continues to grow, so does the amount of money raised for medical research. Doctors throughout the country are continuously searching for ways to cure the deadly disease, and Pike Countians heard their cry.

It is amazing that a community can come together in such a united fashion in order to see to it that it raises its share of money for cancer research and awareness. Pike Countians decided they had something to prove, and they came through.

Now organizers will wrap up the final traces of this year’s event and will begin to look forward to next year where they will be blessed to be able to garner the amount of support for the cause they were able to get this year.

We congratulate organizers for their success in this fundraiser. Their hard work and rallying cries helped bring supporters to the table, checkbooks in hand.

We would also like to thank all the people who contributed all the businesses that participated and all the hard work that the community put into this cause. The success of this year’s effort shows that a determined community can do just about anything.

We look forward to increased success next year. It should be something to see.

May 20, 2000 10 PM  

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