Local residents are lacing up their shoes for the 7th annual Innisfail Relay For Life.
The annual fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society takes place on June 18 and instead of an overnight event, it will run from 12 noon to 12 midnight.
“It used to be on a Friday and overnight (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) but this year we thought we would try a Saturday from noon to midnight. A lot of people work on a Friday and it's an exhausting evening,” said Callie Leshchyshyn, revenue development coordinator at the Red Deer office of the Canadian Cancer Society. “We're trying to make it a very family friendly event this year so we have a lot of family activities planned too.”
The Relay For Life kicks off at noon and will include live music throughout the event, several themed laps that teams will be able to participate in, and a community barbecue from 4 to 6 p.m.
“There will be one lap where we're going to give each team a bag of items and there will be the ‘best dressed person' lap,” said Leshchyshyn, noting there will be some laps the teams won't need to prepare for in advance.
Participants can register as a team or as individuals this year she noted, pointing out they have several teams registered already.
“We have seven teams right now. That's two more than we've had for the past two years so we're pretty happy with that,” said Leshchyshyn. “We do have people that register as individual participants as well and they can challenge themselves to a distance.”
Leshchyshyn said in addition to the barbecue, they will have a silent auction and everyone in the community is welcome to attend.
“During the barbecue we're going to have face painting, a bouncy castle, clowns, balloon animals and kids' activities as well,” she said, noting money raised from the barbecue will go to the Relay For Life.
“It raises a lot of funds that really help us put money towards local programs, research and helping treat and find a cure for cancer,” added Leshchyshyn.
Participants in the 2016 Relay For Life can register prior to the event or at the event on June 18.
For more information visit www.relayforlife.ca
Callie Leshchyshyn, spokesperson for Canadian Cancer Society
"We're trying to make it a very family friendly event this year so we have a lot of family activities planned too."
