NC Relay laps cancer

The NC Relay for Life club gathered at Jim Miller Park to join the county in the fundraising event on Saturday, May 7. Teams from all over Cobb County set up their tents to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Team’s booths lined up on the track with activities and fundraisers while attendees walked an 11 hour relay for cancer research.

Relay teams consisted of church groups, high, middle, and elementary schools, all selling different things at their booths. Some booths sold food such as barbecue, burgers, and fish; others sold drinks, souvenirs, and offered arcade games to play. NC set up multiple booths, including a photo booth, life-size Connect Four, cookie decorating, and bracelet selling.

The NC tent adopted an international style to keep with Relay’s 2016 #onedegree theme. Relay planned to remind everyone that no more than one longitudinal degree ever separates an individual from someone affected by cancer.

 

 

Photo 1 (3)Riley O’Neill

The NC Relay team, decked out in their lime green shirts, set-up the photo booth and other activities to raise money. Around thirty NC Relay team members arrived at Jim R. Miller Park to set up the tent and run fundraising activities, although team sponsor and AP Biology teacher Jennifer Johnson admits “packing things up in cars to get them to the event” posed a significant challenge.

 

 

Photo 2 (2)Emmett Schindler

Each team put up tents to mark their territory, blocking the beaming hot sun. The tents lining the track offered a plethora of activities and delicacies to members completing their legs of the night’s continuous “relay.” NC junior Eunice Ngata found her “favorite part was walking the track and meeting new people. [She] also had the best gumbo [she’s] ever had!”

 

 

Photo 3 (2)Emmett Schindler 

The NC tent offered activities that developed into popular stops along the Relay track, including bracelet sales, cookie decorating, a photo booth, and life size Connect Four. As Ngata and her friends worked their photo booth shift, she said she “had fun seeing people take the pictures!”

 

 

 

Photo 4 (2)Riley O’Neill

Teams from all over Cobb County came out Saturday night to walk the track, enjoy fundraising games and meals, and listen to various live music groups perform. Discussing the night’s purpose, Johnson said, “the Relay for Life event is a culmination of a year of fundraising for the American Cancer Society.”

 

 

 

Photo 5Riley O’Neill

NC students worked the event from 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm by assisting with facets including the the photo booth, game operation, advertising around the track. Ngata felt that serving alongside peers made the night enjoyable and feels “many will agree that [they] were one of the most hyped teams out there!”

 

 

 

Photo 6Riley O’Neill

Teams raise portions of their funds by selling luminaries honoring cancer victims, survivors, and caregivers, which then line the venue’s track.  NC Sophomore Abby Jeske feels the luminaries contributed to the event’s elements of “supporting everyone and just [creating] a cool experience.”

 

 

 


Photo 8Riley O’Neill

Beyond actively fundraising, event attendees enjoyed time to simply spend time with loved ones in celebration of the continued fight to stop cancer. Whether dancing to music or competing in corn hole, Ngata said, “North Cobb’s team had a lot of energy.”

 

 

 

Photo 9Riley O’Neill

Julie Hopp, Captain of the NC Relay for Life Team and AP Environmental Science teacher, joyously completed one of the laps dedicated to individuals who survived their fight against cancer. NC team members lined the track as she came around, ready to support their beloved leader and teacher.

 

 

 

Photo 10 (3)Emmett Schindler

Attendees agree that the luminary ceremony towards the night’s end constitutes an event favorite. As the park falls dark and silent, except for the candles of team members walking the track behind bagpipers, Johnson explains that the ceremony “represents lighting a path for people who have cancer or who have had cancer to win the fight and continue to fight cancer.”