A new element to Relay For Life this year is "Fight Back," a pledge to do something to continue the battle against cancer.
"Fight Back" comes from Relay's theme this year, "Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back."
"Celebration" is represented by the Survivor Walk, "Remember" by the luminaria and "Fight Back" by a special program expected to get under way around midnight Friday during Relay For Life at Blankenship Field.
"We ask everyone to have a goal and say they they want to fight back. It can be as simple as pledging to wear sun block or doing something else to help prevent cancer or to become more educated about it," said Paula Farquhar, Fight Back spokesperson and underwriting chair for the Howard Glasscock Relay For Life.
She knows the impact cancer has on society as well as how important the fight is.
"I was disgnosed in March of 1999 and had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. I have been on Tamoxifen to prevent reoccurance. Interestingly, Relay helped me while I was going through all of this, and Tamoxifen was developed through research paid for through fund-raisers like Relay," Farquhar said.
Farquhar is developing a program for Fight Back.
"I have some pink boxing gloves. We'll start with that," she said with a laugh.
The message will be clear.
"The number one thing I tell everybody, the reason we want to keep walking is because cancer never sleeps. That is why it is important to have a goal and fight back," she said.
