| Radford Relay For Life Raises More Than $56,000 |
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| David Grimes | |
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For 12 hours, a large and enthusiastic crowd kept up the spirit, as the Radford Relay for Life held its annual walk Friday night and Saturday morning at the Radford Recreation Center.
More than 460 individuals and 37 teams participated in this year’s event. A goal of $75,000 was set for this year’s event.
“We raised $56,300 and over $600,000 in the history of the Radford Relay,” said Stephen Milleson of the American Cancer Society on Saturday.
The event started off with the annual survivor’s dinner, which featured spaghetti, a salad and a vast array of desserts.
“I think we served about 200-plus meals,” said Marie Archer, who was in charged of the survivor’s meal. “It’s really great to see all of the survivor’s here and enjoying themselves and fellowshipping with other survivors.”
The Survivor Lap kicked off the event, which started at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening, followed by the companion lap.
Early in the evening, there was a Children’s Lap and $3,800 was raised by the area youth who participated.
Participating in his first-ever Relay for Life, was 90-year-old Roy Hurt, who resides at the Wheatland Retirement Center in Fairlawn.
“I was diagnosed with cancer in 1994 and was told that I had five years to live,” said Hurt. “I’m still here today by the grace of god.”
“I urged people, with or without cancer to take part in this event. No one in my family had ever had a history of cancer and when I was growing up, I never paid any attention to cancer until it hit me,” added the spunky 90-year-old. As the evening progressed, there were plenty of activities to keep everyone awake. One of the biggest events that drew a lot of attention was the “Locks of Love” hair donation. Several ladies left the event with a new hairdo, as they donated their hair to this worthy cause and won spirit points for their respective teams.
Some of the teams included Radford High School, First Christian Church, NRV Roller Derby Girls. New Mount Olice United Methodist Church, Guns and Hoses (Radford Police and Fire Department), Carter Street United Methodist Church, Grove UMC, Laps For Lisa, as well as several teams from the Radford University family.
Another cancer survivor taking part in the opening lap was Ethal Viars, who at the young age of 92-years-old, was enjoying herself.
“I am a 34-year cancer survivor,” Viars said. “I have participated in several of the Relays for Life and I really enjoy myself and I appreciate what everyone has done to put this event on every year.
Click here to see more photos from the Radford Relay For Life event in our photo gallery.
Video from the Radford Relay for Life event can also be found in our NRVVideo Community TV section, which is on the left-hand side of our main page news page. The video can be found under Radford Today.
Photos by David Grimes.
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