AMY SZPARA

LAPLACE – The St. John the Baptist Parish “Relay for Life” kickoff breakfast was held recently at Come Back Inn Restaurant. “Relay for Life,” an American Cancer Society team event to fight cancer, is a 12-hour event held on a track where teams of 10-15 participants take turns walking to raise money for cancer research. They are hoping to raise $60,000 this year. The breakfast was held to motivate all St. John businesses and organizations to become involved. It was to let them know more about the event, where the money goes and what is currently going on in cancer research. The breakfast was sponsored by Acadian Ambulance, and St. John Parish President Nickie Monica was the honorary host. Also in attendance was Sheriff Wayne L. Jones and many local business owners. This year the event will take place April 21-22 at 5 p.m. at Joe Keller Memorial Stadium. Teams will camp out around the track, and members can rest up or participate in other events when they are not walking. There will be a barbecue, campsite and costume contests and other fun things for participants to do. “Cancer has probably affected everyone in this room,” said Laura MacArthur, chairperson for the event, at the breakfast. MacArthur, who is a four-year survivor of breast cancer and has been a chairperson for Relay for Life for four years, said having cancer opened the eyes of all of her family members to the disease. “People ask why we hold the event overnight, and I tell them that it’s because cancer doesn’t sleep,” said MacArthur. The mother relay takes place in Tacoma, Wash., but relays take place all over the country. Last year more than $100 million was raised, and most of that money goes to research. Sharon Sledge of the American Cancer Society said 99 percent of people asked have heard of the ACS, but only 4 percent of the population actually knows what the organization does. She said people should remember that there are four reasons for the ACS. To remember them, Sledge suggested remembering it as 4 REAS: R-research, E-education, A-advocacy and S-service. Research has come a long way thanks to the ACS. The organization has funded over 30 researchers who have gone on to become Nobel Prize winners. They are the premier funder for private researchers, non-government researchers. Currently, one of their researchers in Louisiana is trying to invent treatments to eradicate tumors by stopping blood flow to the malignancy. Education is also a major part of what the ACS provides. We now know from research that smoking causes cancer, and the ACS continues to educate people about that and other causes, as well as prevention. She also said that laws against smoking in federal, state and other public buildings are in place due to advocacy. “ACS also provides service,” said Sledge. “We tell women about mammograms.” They also have an organization called Reach to Recovery for women with breast cancer and an organization called Man to Man for men with prostate cancer, and Road to Recovery is a service that drives cancer patients in need of transportation to their appointments. “In 14 or 15 years when someone says they have cancer we want them to be able to just go to the hospital and get rid of it. That’s our goal,” said Sledge. The chairpersons for this year’s Relay for Life agree that the event is community-based. It brings people together to fight a common foe that affects everyone in one way or another. Along with MacArthur, Bobbie Zaidain and Christine Troxlair are also chairpersons in St. John Parish. They would like to invite everyone in the community to participate in the event by either becoming a team captain or joining a team. Businesses are also encouraged to participate by forming their own teams or through sponsorship. There are plenty of sponsorship opportunities. Sponsors for this year are Gold Eagle Security, Nalco Chemical Co., River Parishes Hospital, Hibernia National Bank and St. John Enterprises. For more information, call Zaidain at 652-5672 or 1-800-882-6524, or visit their website at www.cancer.org.