Relay For Life, the large-scale fundraising event put on by the Canadian Cancer Society, is evolving.
Cindy Vinall, manager of the Chatham-Kent branch of the Canadian Cancer Society, said after four years of operating on its own, the Wallaceburg event is coming back to Chatham due to several reasons.
Chatham Mazda from Chatham Voice on Vimeo.
One of them is that most of the volunteer committee from previous years has bowed out, and no one has stepped up to take over.
But Vinall said the big reason is to maximize fundraising.
“Over the last 10 years, the fundraising landscape has changed,” she said, adding there’s more competition for volunteers and donations. “Some events, such as Relay For Life, have not been meeting revenue goals.”
At its peak, Vinall said Relay across Ontario would bring in $20 million for the society. This year, it raised $14 million.
“Fourteen million dollars is a lot of money, but we want to do our part to raise even more,” she said.
This year, Wallaceburg’s event raised $50,000, the most it ever has. But it also carried with it direct expenses of $9,000. Vinall said the Chatham event, which raised more than $190,000, actually had lower direct expenses.
“We’re very thankful to everyone who has participated in Wallaceburg. They’re very important to us, and as a society we are going to continue to need those participants, volunteers and sponsors to help us meet our fundraising goals,” she said.
So, on June 13, 2015, the Chatham-Kent Relay For Life will take place on the athletic field at Chatham-Kent Secondary School.
That’s a Saturday, meaning this time around the event is also time shifting. It has traditionally run from 7 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Saturday, but it will now begin at noon on the Saturday and will run until midnight.
Vinall said the society listened to feedback from participants and reacted.
“This change we hope will allow more people to attend the event,” she said. “The feedback we’ve had over the last few years is it’s tough to finish a five-day work week and scoop up the family and pack up for an overnight event. It’s a lot of challenges.
“It’s also challenging for people going through their cancer journey.”
Vinall said the new format will still have all the elements of Relay For Life.
“We will still celebrate with our survivors, we will still have the luminary ceremony and we will still fight back.”
She added Relay For Life will also be tweaked to encourage improved participation.
“It has always been a fundraising event. It has evolved into a great event that people have attended,” she said. “We want to bring the ‘relay’ back into the event and have more people participate.”
There are also looming changes in registration fees. If you register before the end of January, you will still get the old fee of $10 per participant. Anyone registering from Feb. 1 to May 1 faces fees of $25 for adults and $15 for children. The Feb. 1-May 1 adult fee includes a complimentary luminary, Vinall said. For everyone who registers after May 1, the fee is $35 for adults and $20 for children.
