Relay for Life

Many months ago, my sister Jess called the members of our family and begged us to help her out. She had agreed to be on the committee for a Relay for Life being held in Salt Lake City at This Is The Place Heritage Park. Since we all love Jess and wanted to support her, we agreed. We didn't know anything about Relay for Life, but wanted to be good sports about it. My brother Aaron was appointed the team leader and I think we all just did what was asked of us, not really knowing what any of this was about. Our event was held June 12th and 13th and really surpassed anything I had thought it would be. Having had some time to think about the whole experience, I realize now what a wonderful event Relay for Life really is. It is the "signature activity" for the American Cancer Society and gives a community an opportunity to to "fight against cancer."
Teams are formed and try to raise money for cancer research and prevention. We were extremely creative and named our team Team Allred. Yes, that's right. I know. We were lucky enough to have the Kilgore family with us, too (Meghan and her sisters). I don't know that there's a single family which hasn't been affected by cancer. I know that in our family directly, we've lost both an aunt and cousin to cancer, and have members who are cancer survivors (go Grandma Allred!). And Meghan's sister Kristen is a survivor as well.
Teams are asked to have a team member on the track throughout the event, from about 6 p.m. the first night to noon the following day. Aaron assigned shifts, but the horrible weather kind of nixed all that. Really, who wants to walk in torrential rain and lighting? All in all, we had so much fun. Even being evacuated to safe buildings was an adventure. We walked, talked, laughed, listened to karaoke singers, lit a candle for our Aunt Meg, ate everything they offered us, got rained on, and enjoyed the experience. Now that we kind of know what to expect, I hope that we participate in the future as well. Thanks for experience Jess!