From close family members to close friends, we all know someone whose life has been touched by cancer at some point. We don’t face cancer alone and neither should you. On Friday at 6 p.m. at the Rosedale Rapids Aquatic Center, the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Webster County will kick off with a special Survivors Lap, a moving experience honoring those who have touched by cancer. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life movement is the world’s largest support group for survivors and their caregivers with more than 5,200 community Relay For Life events around the country and celebrating those individuals who are winning the fight.

At Relay, cancer survivors and caregivers come together to be recognized for their personal fight against a disease that has taken too much. In addition to a special ceremony, survivors and caregivers laps open the event and serve as a testament to the fight against cancer and the hope for a cure. Relay’s new location, at the Rosedale Rapids Aquatic Center, will provide participants with fun water activities, three different walking path options and a meaningful new way of honoring and remembering those touched by cancer by tying cancer ribbons, along with personal notes, on trees.

Barb Passow will be this year’s Relay Honorary Survivor, sharing her story of hope, inspiration and her ability to fight back against her disease. A cancer survivor is defined by the American Cancer Society as anyone who is living with cancer, from the date of diagnosis. If you have ever heard the words, “You have cancer,” we invite you to participate as a survivor.

Larry Dunbar is this year’s first Relay Honorary Caregiver and will be sharing his thoughts and ideas on how to take care of yourself and find the support and help you need when supporting a loved one or friend with cancer. Caregivers are the unpaid loved ones who give the person with cancer physical and emotional care. Being a caregiver is a tough job, but it’s an important and rewarding one, too. Caregivers may be partners, family members, or close friends. Most often, they are not trained for the caregiver job. Many times, they’re the lifeline of the person with cancer. Today, more than 13 million Americans have or have had cancer. Each of them probably needed a caregiver at some point to help them through their cancer experience.

Relay brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools, faith-based groups; people from all walks of life – all aimed at celebrating the lives of those who have had cancer, remembering those lost, and fighting back against the disease. If you are a cancer survivor or caregiver and would like to take part in the Relay, call Allison Peterson at 570-1026. All survivors receive a free Relay For Life T-shirt and a special gift. No registration is necessary; all survivors are welcome to join Relay. There will be a special reception area designated for all survivors and caregivers near the entrance of Rosedale Rapids.

We complete the Relay experience with our Fight Back Ceremony, where we make a personal commitment to save lives by taking up the fight against cancer. Fighting back is your personal commitment to do something as simple as getting a screening tests, quitting smoking, or talking to elected officials about cancer. By taking action, people are personally taking steps to save lives and help finish the fight.

No matter why you take part in Relay, one thing is clear: with every step you take, you are helping the American Cancer Society save lives. ACS helps nearly 1 million people touched by cancer each year get the help they need when and where they need it. Their cancer information specialists answer questions, provide information, and refer people to community resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via phone (1-800-227-2345), email and live online chats on cancer.org. They help patients and their families with their most pressing needs: getting rides to treatment, navigating the health care system, dealing with the side effects of treatment. Whatever the need, ACS can help.

While the American Cancer Society is making progress toward a world without cancer, only with your dedication and donation efforts can we finish the fight against the disease.

With your help, we aren’t just fighting one type of cancer we’re fighting for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. Each person who shares the Relay For Life experience can take pride in knowing that they are working to create a world where this disease will no longer threaten our loved ones or rob anyone of another birthday.

Allison Peterson and Dr. Carrie Jo Pearson are ACS volunteer co-chairs for the Relay For Life of Webster County. For more information about making a donation, forming a Relay team or walking at Relay, please visit RelayForLife.org/WebsterCountyIA.