Pike County’s Relay For Life may not be held until May, but the people of Goshen got their Relay fundraising efforts officially underway Saturday with Goshen’s Relay for Life Kickoff.

“We just wanted to have a kickoff event here in Goshen to kick off our fundraising efforts for next year, and to help get us ready for the Pike County Relay for Life in May,” said Kadra Jordan, Goshen’s Relay For Life Chairman.

The event had several teams participating, including Goshen Baptist Church, Goshen Elementary School, Team CAKE, Brooke’s Beauty Salon and Team BEC.

Team BEC is a team that was established in honor of local cancer patients EB Johnson and Brenda Swanzy and in memory of Claud Johnson, and it had volunteer help in the form of representatives from Troy University’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.

The event’s fundraising goal was $5,000, and Jordan said she expects to meet that goal.

“The fundraising efforts have been going real well, and I believe we’ll have some good news later on when we announce our totals,” Jordan said.

And, while severe weather rolled through the area Saturday, that did not stop the people of Goshen from coming out to support Relay For Life.

“We’ve really had more people than I ever could have expected,” Jordan said. ‘When the weather came through earlier today, I was really worried, but one thing about people in Goshen is that they usually stick together, so I’m just thankful that the community came out and supported us the way they have.”

Once Goshen’s kickoff event wraps up Saturday, the town will turn its attention to raising more money for Pike County’s Relay for Life in May.

“We’re going to continue fundraising from September all the way up until Pike County Relay For Life in May, so we’ll be having some beauty pageants, and I know several churches are going to have some fund raising events of their own,” Jordan said.