A group of Rye-area residents are working with the Westchester branch of the American Cancer Society to hold a “Relay For Life” fundraiser the night of June 8 at Rye Town Park.

By Bill Lawyer

A group of Rye-area residents are working with the Westchester branch of the American Cancer Society to hold a “Relay For Life” fundraiser the night of June 8 at Rye Town Park.

The benefit co-chairs are Michelle Kelly Dillon, Jeff Miller, and Steph McKean. Ms. Dillon is the owner of the Balsam Massage Therapy Center in Rye. She specializes in therapy for women who’ve undergone mastectomies. Mr. Miller works for the Unified Field, a multi-media company in New York City that develops “interactives” for museums. Ms. McKean is a recent Rye High School graduate, who will be attending college in the fall.

This is the first time that a Relay For Life will be held in Rye, although these events have been held in communities across the county and the rest of the country since the 1980s.

The relay is an overnight event, starting at sunset and concluding at sunrise the next morning. The time frame symbolizes the threat that cancer poses, the work that it takes to fight the disease, and the promise of hope that cancer can be cured.

Following the opening ceremony at 7 p.m., a luminaria ceremony, will be held at 9:30 p.m. Paper bags with lit candles will be lined up along the path around the pond at the park. Each bag will be personalized with the name, photo, illustration, or message in memory or honor of a friend or loved one who has been affected by cancer.

The group hopes to recruit at least 30 teams and raise $50,000. Teams can be comprised of local residents and groups, such as sports teams, church groups, and school clubs. They hope to get at least 20 cancer survivors from the Rye area to join them in a special Survivor Dinner before the Relay starts.

Each group will raise money in advance and will also carry out a fund-raising event or product sale at the Relay. Special T-shirts will be awarded to everyone who raises $100 or more.

The teams will set up tent sites on the great lawn area of the park, so that some team members can rest while others are walking laps around the pond. Modular Flat Staging systems will be set up near the tents, along with registration and food tents. Live music and other activities will be presented in the evening up until about 10 p.m.

The planning process began recently with a kick-off meeting at the Rye Free Reading Room. Kaitlan Kelly, the survivor of two bouts with cancer, spoke about what the event means to her. She was followed by Steph McKean, who spoke as a caregiver whose her mother fought cancer for over seven years.

For more information about the Relay, visit www.relayforlife.org\ryeny. To sign up a team or find out about volunteer opportunities, contact Megan McGrady at megan.mcgrady@cancer.org or 397-8803.