Prince George, B.C. – Masich Place Stadium will become a beehive of activity next weekend as the Canadian Cancer Society hosts the annual 24-hour Relay For Life.

The Prince George relay, the only 24-hour cancer relay in Canada, runs from 10 am Saturday to 10 Sunday morning and for many individuals and groups, marks the culmination of fundraising events of all types, shapes and sizes which have been conducted over the past year.  Don’t, however, think that the drive to raise funds to find a cure for cancer ends with the Relay for Life.  It doesn’t.  The online fundraising system for Relay For Life 2014 events remains open until the fall.  You can get more information at princegeorgerelay@bc.cancer.ca on how you can donate to the fight.

Each year the Relay For Life starts off with a victory lap by Cancer Survivors wearing bright yellow T-shirts.  Back in mid-April the Cancer Society has issued a call out for victory lap participants.  The Society’s Team Lead, Helen Owen, says “I don’t have an actual number of cancer survivors who have registered to date but we’re having a steady flow of them.  Cancer survivors can continue to register right up to the event.  Even just to show up at the event.”

“We ask them all to be there by 9:15 in the morning so that they can sign in at the Survivor tent.  We have a lot of draws and prizes and we want to make sure that everyone is eligible.  We’re going to do a group photo at 9:45 and just have everybody ready to go for the opening ceremonies at 10.  And again, we invite all cancer survivors and their caregivers to take part in that.”

Owen says it can be difficult trying to give an exact figure for the number of people taking part in the victory lap.  “Some of our participants are cancer survivors and they’re also registered participants and members of teams so we have them that we track but we also have a lot of cancer survivors that just register separately, just for the survivor victory lap.  And again, there are a lot of people who walk up at the event.  I think it’s going really well, there’s been a lot of chatter in the community so I would love to see a big sea of yellow survivors out there.”  You can get all of the information you require at 250-564-0885.

This year’s fundraising goal is 525-thousand-dollars, and more than 35% of that target has been met even prior to the tallying of fundraising efforts next weekend and beyond.