Relay for Life: Organizers sound the call for participation, fundraising

Despite losing his mother to breast cancer six years ago, Event Chair Manuel Haro of the Gilroy Relay for Life hasn’t given up the fight to find a cure.
The same goes for Haro’s Morgan Hill equivalent – Event Chair Valerie Renggli – whose father succumbed to lung cancer last year.
“That’s kind of what motivated me and got me involved with this event,” said Haro, who hopes to eclipse the $2 million fundraising mark during the 16th annual Relay for Life June 21 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy. “Our goal is to raise over $180,000 by the end of the 2014 season.”
In Morgan Hill, Renggli hopes to get the ball rolling early on by increasing awareness of the event and generating more support and momentum for the town’s 13th annual Relay, which is slated for May 17 at Community Park in Morgan Hill.
“People who have family members who have cancer, they feel a little helpless because they can’t control what’s happening,” said Renggli, whose mother twice has won her battle with breast cancer. “Doing the Relay, it’s an event that can make them feel like we are doing something.”
Relay For Life is an event that takes place around the globe and claims to be “the largest movement to end the disease,” according to the organization. Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park or fairground, then take turns walking or running around a track or path. Signifying the fact “cancer never sleeps,” relays are overnight, last 24 hours and require each team to have a representative on the track at all times during the event, according to the organization.
Participating and fundraising in the two cities were down in 2013 compared to years prior. Despite that, Haro said the 2013 Gilroy event still pulled in $85,566 in donations to push the total amount donated to $1,833,849.
“We’re up in our (participation) numbers tremendously (for 2014) because we’re getting the word out early,” said Haro, who is hosting a Jan. 22 kickoff event at the Old City Hall building in downtown Gilroy at 7 p.m. “We’re really trying to push this thing to get people to sign up as soon as possible…and show their Gilroy pride.”
Anyone interested in signing up can email Haro at

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, visit www.relayforlife.org/gilroyca or like their Facebook page.
The Morgan Hill Relay participation dropped from 33 teams in 2012 to 13 teams in 2013, but participants were still able to raise $48,157.55 at last year’s event to increase its overall donations to $1.2 million.
“Our goal this year, obviously, is to grow this event. We want to do it by increasing the number of teams we have and increasing the number of survivors who participate,” said Renggli, who will host the first team captains meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Holiday Inn Express on Condit Road in Morgan Hill. “Our goal for this year is to get 40 teams.”
Anyone interested in signing up can email Renggli at

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or visit www.relayforlife.org/morganhillca.
Generating some early awareness has already been beneficial in Gilroy, where 24 registered teams have raised $2,603.60 in online donations. Additionally, the Gilroy High School cheer squad donated $500 to the cause from the money its members raised at homecoming games.
Renggli, who has six teams already signed up that have raised $336 to date, said she has placed a high importance on “youth engagement” and getting some student-led teams from Ann Sobrato and Live Oak high schools to participate in 2014. She is also on the lookout for a Youth Engagement Chairperson. Anyone interested should email her at

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.
“This is a cause that I think our community – there are so many people who have been effected by cancer – can really get behind,” Renggli said.
Each year, more than four million people in more than 20 countries raise much-needed funds and awareness to save lives from cancer through the Relay for Life movement, according to the American Cancer Society’s website.