Local Relay for Life in its Own Fight for Survival

Annual Event Could Stop Unless There is More Participation; Meeting Set Jan. 24

Lung, breast, pancreas, prostate, skin, colon and rectal, and stomach. What do all these words have in common? They all have a dirty word attached… cancer. A little over 1.9 million new cancer cases were expected to be diagnosed in the US just last year. Here in our community, Relay For Life of La Grange is hoping to fight that by continuing to raise funds to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families, celebrate cancer survivors, and remember loved ones we have lost to cancer. But after its vital and continued presence for almost 20 years, it might unfortunately come to an end.

Glenda Munsch, Relay For Life of La Grange event chairperson, has been involved with Relay For Life for as long as she can remember and can’t imagine the community without it.

“Many years ago someone asked the City of La Grange to get a team together and I joined that team. At that time there were 40 or more teams and from that point on I became more involved. It has been hard and sad to see the decline in participation. We have also lost several of our survivors this past year but there are twice as many being diagnosed with cancer every day and we have a lot of these people right here in Fayette County. That’s why I think it would be sad for our Relay to not be held here anymore. What about those people?”

Munsch herself is no stranger to the effects of cancer.

“I think most people have been affected by cancer in one form or another,” she said. “They have someone in their family, a friend, or themselves who has heard that dreaded word. I watched my sister die from melanoma cancer in the early 1990s at the age of 45. She left behind her husband and two daughters who were 12 and 14. Then in 2004, my mom died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 80, and in 2016 I was diagnosed with colon cancer. However, I was very fortunate that mine was able to be taken care of with just surgery. I did not have to do chemo or radiation but there are so many who are not that lucky and that is why I feel the need to continue raising money so that maybe one day there will be a cure for all cancers.”

A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 24 at the La Grange City Hall Chambers at 5:30 p.m. Attend this meeting to learn more about Relay For Life. A tentative date of April 20 is scheduled for this year’s event, subject to community and team involvement.

Relay For Life of La Grange needs you to become involved and create a team, as big or small as you like.

“If we want to find a cure or at least extend people’s lives with better treatment we need to continue to raise money for research. We also need to let people know there is help available. People also need to know that most of the money raised by our Relay stays in Fayette County to help survivors with anything they need help with,” said Munsch.

Deadline to register online at https://secure.acsevents. org is Feb. 1. Contact Glenda Munsch at (979) 249-6884, Becky Snyder, or Eileen Behrens for more information. You can also find and follow Relay For Life of La Grange on Facebook.