Organizers for the annual Squamish Relay for Life are in dire need of volunteers, and a recent recruiting drive boosted the number of people helping to co-ordinate what's anticipated to be the most successful fundraising effort to date.
With $147,000 raised last year, the push is on to make the June 2011 event bigger and better. The organizing committee held an open house at the Arista Coffee Shop from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday for those interested in making that happen.
"We're kicking off the relay, the website is open if people want to register as a team," said Tamsyn Jenkins, Relay for Life co-ordinator. "But what we're trying to do here tonight is to get our committee together so we can get more people to help plan it."
The biggest cancer event in Canada held nationwide each year, the Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life is a 12-hour non-competitive relay from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Scheduled to take place at Brennan Park on June 24, the Squamish Relay is the only one in the Sea to Sky Corridor with the next closest relay taking place in North Vancouver.
"The more we can get people to help us organize it, the better chance we have of just creating a bigger spirit in the community and having the people that maybe have not done the relay before come out," said volunteer co-chair Lisa Merrick.
Volunteers can assist with fundraising ideas, help plan the all-night activities at the relay itself, help recruit teams throughout the Sea to Sky corridor, and past participants can mentor new teams.
"Anyone can join the committee," said Jenkins. "It doesn't matter how much time you've got - if you want to be involved, we will find something for you to do."
Interested volunteers should contact [email protected]. To register for the relay, visit ww.cancer.ca. The cost is $10 per person up until the early bird Jan. 31 deadline.
Teams max out at 15 with a minimum of eight, and individuals who don't have a team can still register as teams are always looking for people.
In the meantime, some teams' fundraising efforts are already underway. The 'Cancer Can't Scare Us' team is back this year with Halloween fun by donation.
"What most people do for Christmas, we do for Halloween," said team member Ken Schlinker, whose wife is a cancer survivor.
Trick or Treaters can enter the team's haunted house a Cedar Drive by donation and have a photo taken with a witch. Kids can also pay 25 cents to guess how many creepy crawlers are in a jar and to play other games at the house which, according to Schlinker, will be "hard to miss."
