Relay for life returns

Relay for Life returns to Langley after a year of rebuilding

After being cancelled last year, Relay For Life is back for 2019. Last year in March, Langley McLean Relay ForLife began the planning of its annual event in May. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled. This year, however, a committee is formed and the event is right around the corner.

 

Relay For Life is a nationwide American Cancer Society fundraising campaign that, in the Langley and McLean community, culminates to an all-night event in May, raising awareness for cancer and those it affects. Students from Langley and McLean form teams with their friends and work to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Then, on May 11-12 from 5pm to 5am, teachers and students come together on the Langley High School field to partake in activities, listen to music, to eat food, and to celebrate the strength of everyone affected by cancer.

 

So what happened last year? In 2017, Langley was in the midst of construction, so the event was held at the Cooper Middle School field. But when 2018 began, Cooper was no longer an option.

 

“Last year we had a little bit of a roadblock. The decision was made that [Langley] didn’t want Relay to be at Cooper anymore. It just wasn’t quite secure enough, there wasn’t a fence, and there was a little bit more liability there, so the decision was made to wait until we could get back to Langley,” American Cancer Society Community Development Manager Anna Unger said.

 

The break last year presents a few problems going into this year’s event. “It’s definitely interesting because with taking that year off, you kind of lose the momentum…We’re ramping back up, but it’s definitely going to be interesting because there is that year of freshmen, and sophomores, that haven’t been to Relay, so we have this new challenge of getting people excited about it who haven’t actually experienced it before,” Unger said.

 

With construction done, Langley is hosting the event again, and fundraising is in full swing. There is a catch, however. Relay for Life was not given permission to be considered a Langley club, and isn’t allowed to promote Relay for Life in any way on school grounds.

 

“After that year, Langley decided to drop support for Relay for Life, and I believe that it was also, in part, because we didn’t have a teacher sponsor. As of now, we are not allowed to put up flyers at the school, do any marketing through the school, so it’s been very difficult for us” Langley junior and Relay For Life Executive Director Erin Connery said.

 

Along with encouraging the Langley/McLean community to help raise money to fight cancer, Relay for Life is also helping to decrease recent tensions between the two schools.

 

“Already, through our committee, you can tell that there’s a collaboration between the Langley and the McLean side and I think it’s just a matter of everyone joining together for such a good cause, and realizing that although we are rivals on sports teams, in the end nobody likes cancer and we’re all just out here to fight it,” Connery said.

 

The event on May 11th is set to include many of the activities from 2017, but with a few improvements.

 

Sign-up here: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY19NER?pg=entry&fr_id=90737