Many Lawrence community members whose lives have been touched by cancer gathered Friday night for Relay for Life, an annual fundraiser to support cancer research.
Volunteers for this year’s event, held at Rock Chalk Park, raised nearly $149,000 this year of their goal of $170,000, according to the fundraiser’s website as of Friday night.
Bob Silipigni, of Lawrence, surpassed the one-million-dollar all-time fundraising mark last fall and continued collecting donations, raising more than $103,000 for this year’s relay season.
The relay’s theme for 2024 was “Island Vibes, Saving Lives.” Many in attendance wore leis as they made their way around the track and stood in community.
The American Cancer Society’s website describes the modern Relay for Life as an experience led by volunteers that “unites communities to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost to cancer, and raise funds to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families through advocacy, research, and patient support, to ensure everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.”
An important part of each year’s event is the lighting of luminarias, in honor and memory of those lost to cancer.
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August Rudisell (he/him) has been a photographer and videographer for The Lawrence Times since March 2021. He is a former dispatcher, he avidly consumes and creates local news, and he would love to meet your dog when out and about at a community event.
See more of his work for the Times here. He can be reached at arudisell (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com.
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