Relay for Life coming to Bonners Ferry

For the first time, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is being held in Bonners Ferry.

The event takes place Aug. 22.

Relay for Life is a community gathering where everyone can participate in the fight against cancer. The overnight event symbolizes that cancer doesn’t sleep as teams walk around a track all night long.

Bonners Ferry’s Relay for Life is planned to begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 22 at the Bonners Ferry High School track and conclude at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23.

Teams will camp out at the track and have a team member on the track at all times during the event because cancer never sleeps. The track will be lined with lighted luminaria (candles in white paper bags) to remember those lost to cancer, those fighting cancer and those who have fought cancer and won.

The event begins with an opening ceremony and a survivor lap. The survivor lap is when all cancer survivors make the first lap around the track.

Relay for Life raises money to help prevent cancer, save lives and diminish suffering from the disease on a local and national level. In 2012, 82 patients from Boundary and Bonner County received services through the American Cancer Society.

The goals for Bonners Ferry’s first Relay for Life are to raise $25,000, have 15 teams present and 40 survivors participate in the survivor lap.

Look for more details on Relay for Life in every issue of the Bonners Ferry Herald, including how to form a team, how to volunteer and how to sponsor the event as a business.

The next Relay for Life meeting is on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. at Riverside Auto Center. For more information on Relay for Life, visit www.relayforlife.org/bonnersferryid or visit the local Facebook page under Bonners Ferry Relay for Life.