As the day to Relay approaches, participants are busy planning their activities for the day and Relay committee members are scrambling to complete last-minute details to ensure everyone has a great time. But those who have attended Relay For Life before know there's just something about being there, being a part of this incredible day, that just can't be described, it has to be felt. As the day approaches, some participants and survivors have offered their own thoughts on this unique event:

"Every year I look forward to Relay for Life. I started relay 4 years ago as a freshman in high school. A very close friend of mine died from leukemia a couple years before then. I really felt strong about doing something in memory of her. I knew that she would have loved to be there with me and enjoy the day. I now walk for both my friend and a neighbor that had just recently died in October of 2002. He was like a second dad to me and I felt that he really needed me to be their for him and he always, no matter how his health was, had a smile. I have been captain for two years now and going in to my third year as captain I feel very strong about my team and what we can do. My best friend from Germany was a foreign exchange student last year and never heard about Relay. She was on our team last year and hopes she could come every year. She said that this event is so touching and very rewarding. I hope that someday there is a cure for cancer and that everyone can rejoice in love and happiness. Join me on the track this year; all it takes is your heart and some dedication to be a relayer."
With love and peace Alisha Tilburg.

Much of the success of the local Relay For Life is due to its motivated and dedicated committee who begin work on the next Relay while the tents from the current Relay are still up. They never give up, they never find an obstacle impossible to get around, they never stop asking for more involvement from the community and they never stop working toward a cure for cancer.

"I work on the relay committee because of family and friends who have had/have cancer in one form or another, and feel that we need to support research in hopes of finding a cure, and also to give aide, support, comfort to those who are currently going through treatment. One of the most touching events I have ever seen is the track ringed with luminaries and the memorial service that takes place."
Rosalee Owen,
Relay For Life Committee member

Of all the people who participate in Relay, there's a special place in everyone's heart for the survivors. Cancer survivors are the living examples of the hope Relay carries. We honor them for their strength in fighting the disease and for their courage in coming to Relay and offering their stories.

"I want to express to all that I am a survivor of breast cancer for 31 years. I owe my life to God and the Drs. whom the good Lord directed in caring for me. Through the Relay For Life I can show that cancer can be beaten if it is not your time to depart this earth. I was one of the fortunate ones - chosen to live."
Janinne

Please join the Dunkirk-Fredonia area Relay For Life event on the track at Fredonia State University College on June 12 and 13. If anyone has a Relay or cancer story they would like to share, please email the local Relay For Life committee at relay@netsync.net. Stories not appearing in this section will be compiled for future use. For information on Relay For Life or the American Cancer Society, please call 1-800-ACS-2345.