Feb. 26, 2013 — A kickoff event for the Relay For Life (RFL) is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27 in the Pizza Factory banquet room in Susanville, and everyone is invited to attend.

According to Shari Erwin, RFL logistics coordinator, the kickoff will get everything started for the 24-hour event scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 3 through the morning of Sunday, Aug. 4 at the track at Lassen High School.

Erwin said committee members, who are in charge of setting up RLF, are still needed.

Anyone interested in forming a team or is a team captain can attend and pick up a team captain packet. Or people can find susanville’s event at relayforlife.org.

This year each team member will pay a $10 registration fee and once each individual raises $100, they will get a T-shirt, which is different than how registration has been handled in the past, according to Erwin.

Money raised from RFL goes toward advocacy, patient services, research and education. Teams can raise money for RFL throughout the year and onsite at the event.

During RFL, a team must have a member on the track at all times because cancer never sleeps.

The event begins with the Survivor Lap where cancer survivors take the first lap around the track. At 10 p.m. that Saturday, a luminaria ceremony is held where people can buy, through a donation, a luminaria bag in remembrance of someone who died from cancer or celebrate someone who overcame cancer. The community is invited to attend and participate in the luminaria ceremony.

According to relayforlife.org, the event began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma colorectal surgeon, circled the track at the University of Puget Sound for more than 83 miles.

Friends donated $25 to run or walk 30 minutes with him. Klatt raised $27,000.

Afterward, Klatt formed a small committee to plan the first team relay event, the City of Destiny Classic 24-Hour Run Against Cancer.

In 1986, 19 teams participated in the first team relay event and raised $30,000.

            Out of Klatt’s vision, more than 5,200 Relay For Life events occur across the United States today and more than $4.5 million is raised to save lives from cancer.