Relay for Life 2007
Tonight I went to my 1st Relay for Life event -- a major fundraising & community event for our local American Cancer Society chapter (I got donations from my mom & sister Yin Ling). We left Kailee with some relatives & went to a special survivors/caregivers dinner near the baseball stadium where the relay was to take place. I got a purple artificial flower lei along w/a survivors t-shirt & Pete got a "caregivers" sash, some tickets for a lucky name drawing (I ended up w/a backpack) & a nice simple meal of brown rice, salad, fruit salad, grilled fish, teriyaki chicken, chocolate mochi & cake. We sat at a table with other members of my "Spirited Survivors" group, and met some prostate cancer survivors, saw other folks who are regular customers at my family's restaurant, and also met a man who is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia, who turns out to be an economics instructor at the University of Hawaii. He said he won't be able to teach an online course this coming semester & if they don't find someone soon, it would have to be canceled. So talk about job networking at a cancer-related event -- he encouraged Pete to contact the department on Monday about the position. His wife was really nice too -- an ESL teacher at UH & who knows some of the Micronesian students who worked at our restaurant. What a small world in a small town!
A children's group from a local church performed during the dinner and also went around giving out inspirational handmade cards & paper leis to the survivors -- I was really touched by their gesture & almost felt like crying! It was a bit strange, trying to see who else I might know who's a survivor. There was even a child who was a survivor there -- I can only imagine what his parents had to also go through. While standing in line for food, I spoke with a woman undergoing treatment for lymphoma & both of us agreeing we're never really "cured", just in remission. I think Pete might've felt really odd & out of place, not sure how to socialize in this type of setting, & he seemed quiet mostly, but tried to joke around during the lucky name drawing.
After the dinner, we lined up at the baseball stadium to do a lap around the field for the survivors & caregivers. I helped hold the banner for our group which read "Breast Cancer Awareness". It was interesting to see the different organizations, companies & families who were participating. Some had large tents, very organized w/picnic tables, lots of food, cots, etc. We were behind an older couple who were walking slowly -- it was touching to see them walking together though. The man was the caregiver to the woman, but he seemed to be the one struggling more to walk. The local paper then took a group picture of the survivors sitting in the bleachers. We later watched a youth taiko drumming group perform. Next to us, I noticed a retired Waiakea High School teacher (who also sells promotional items) wearing a prostate cancer survivor shirt & mentioned I wanted to contact him about promotional items for our restaurant, so he gave me his pen w/his ph. #. Turns out he's a 1-year survivor & he's just been trying to soak in this new experience being a new survivor at this event. We later bid on some silent auction offerings -- I'm hoping we get some inexpensive interisland air fare tickets or some massages I had bid on. We left around 7 pm to pick up Kailee & didn't stay for the candle lighting ceremony. Luckily it stayed dry though, since a tropical depression was passing through the area with heavy rains off & on, although a bit muggy even into the early evening. Not sure about bringing Kailee to the event next year, since he likes to run around a lot. But I'm glad I came -- there were a lot of survivors there, representing just a fraction of folks with cancer in our community. We need to draw hope wherever we can find it.
A children's group from a local church performed during the dinner and also went around giving out inspirational handmade cards & paper leis to the survivors -- I was really touched by their gesture & almost felt like crying! It was a bit strange, trying to see who else I might know who's a survivor. There was even a child who was a survivor there -- I can only imagine what his parents had to also go through. While standing in line for food, I spoke with a woman undergoing treatment for lymphoma & both of us agreeing we're never really "cured", just in remission. I think Pete might've felt really odd & out of place, not sure how to socialize in this type of setting, & he seemed quiet mostly, but tried to joke around during the lucky name drawing.
After the dinner, we lined up at the baseball stadium to do a lap around the field for the survivors & caregivers. I helped hold the banner for our group which read "Breast Cancer Awareness". It was interesting to see the different organizations, companies & families who were participating. Some had large tents, very organized w/picnic tables, lots of food, cots, etc. We were behind an older couple who were walking slowly -- it was touching to see them walking together though. The man was the caregiver to the woman, but he seemed to be the one struggling more to walk. The local paper then took a group picture of the survivors sitting in the bleachers. We later watched a youth taiko drumming group perform. Next to us, I noticed a retired Waiakea High School teacher (who also sells promotional items) wearing a prostate cancer survivor shirt & mentioned I wanted to contact him about promotional items for our restaurant, so he gave me his pen w/his ph. #. Turns out he's a 1-year survivor & he's just been trying to soak in this new experience being a new survivor at this event. We later bid on some silent auction offerings -- I'm hoping we get some inexpensive interisland air fare tickets or some massages I had bid on. We left around 7 pm to pick up Kailee & didn't stay for the candle lighting ceremony. Luckily it stayed dry though, since a tropical depression was passing through the area with heavy rains off & on, although a bit muggy even into the early evening. Not sure about bringing Kailee to the event next year, since he likes to run around a lot. But I'm glad I came -- there were a lot of survivors there, representing just a fraction of folks with cancer in our community. We need to draw hope wherever we can find it.
posted by goforsushi @ 9:43 PM
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