Start planning for this year’s Relay
Get your outfits ready and start painting your banners, because a date has been set for this year's CANSA Relay for Life: October 28.
MALALANE – The local CANSA committee will host this year’s Relay for Life at the Malelane Rugby Club on October 28 and teams can start registering.
The CANSA Relay for Life is a global event where community members walk around a track throughout the night to symbolise the never-ending fight against cancer and to show their support to the survivors.
Team members take turns carrying a baton, with one person on the field at all times. Each team can consist from 10 to 15 members and usually dress according to a theme, with their tent and banners decorated along the same concept.
Teams and their supporters’ camp out alongside the track, with lots of food stalls, games, music, and all kinds of fun and entertainment. They also learn more about healthy living, cancer, and cancer screening and the care and support programmes CANSA offers to survivors.
Funds raised by the various activities are used to fund the association’s activities.
The Relay for Life will kick off late afternoon and last until the next morning.
To honour and remember loved ones who have passed away due to cancer or are still fighting it, the Luminaria ceremony is held. Relayers and community members decorate paper bags, which are placed along the track. Candles are lit and put inside as a glowing tribute.
The Relay for Life was last held in Malalane in 2015, and was great fun, with hundreds of people walking through the night to raise awareness and supporting the organisation and cancer survivors.
Local teams stayed awake at the previous Relay by playing traditional boeresport like tug of war and sack races and loads of prizes were handed out.
The local CANSA team will also host a Shavathon event on February 25 and 26. This fund-raising initiative consists of people having their hair shaved or sprayed with colour by giving a small donation and showing their support for cancer survivors. Venues will be announced soon.
For enquiries, contact Botha on 013-790-0898 or send an email to karenza@mindmatters.co.za.
