Relay for Life

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to participate in Relay for Life with our Cub Scout Pack. Relay for Life is one of the main fundraising events of the American Cancer Society. It's an event where members of a community are able to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people camp out at a location, like a park, and take turns walking or running around a path for the entire 24 hours of the event. Each team is asked to have a representative on the path at all times.

The Cub Scouts started the day presenting the colors at the Opening Ceremony Saturday Morning.

Then we set up our campsite with the help of Pepe and Cubmaster Gregg. Christopher and Anneli were very excited!


Then we started walking!! Here is a photo of our Cub Scout Pack walking together during the 'Team Lap'. Take note of Christopher pushing the grocery carriage. The Cub Scouts helped the Relay Committee by pushing this carriage around the loop collecting the other teams recycable trash like water bottles and soda cans. They loved having a job to do! :)

Christopher walked around the path 75 times! They figured that he might have walked about 8 miles! Anneli walked 28 times around the path! Way to go guys! Shaun & I walked too, but we didn't keep track of the laps like the kids did. They kept track of the laps they walked with beads on a counting string. It was a great incentive to keep them walking for the 24 hour event!

In betweek all the walking there were several touching ceremonies like the survivor lap and the luminaria cermony. It was very touching and at times a little emotional, especially since cancer has personally touched my life in several ways.
The weather was awesome until about 11:30pm, and then it started to rain. Christopher was exhausted, so after pizza at midnight, he settled down and fell asleep at about 1am. Shaun followed close behind at 2am sleeping for about an hour. Then I went to bed at about 3am. While I was sleeping the torrential downpours started! It was terrible! We had a small puddle in our tent, but it was nothing compared to what I saw when I got up at 5:30am.

Most areas of the relay path was just one giant mud puddle. The heavy rain lasted from about 5am-6am and it made a mess! Tents collapsed and water was EVERYWHERE!

Except our campsite. Luckily, our Cub Scout site was on higher ground. Our site stayed relatively dry. Even our own tent held up very well! It didn't collapse and it wasn't full of water--just a few drips! :)

Since the relay path was pretty much covered in 3-6 inches (yes, it was measured) the walking stopped and the event was over. However, the boys had to make one more run of the path with the grocery cart...

What a fabulous weekend! It was a such a great experience having fun with family and friends for a worthy cause. We are looking forward to participating again next year! Let us know if you would like to join us!! :)