www.relayforlife.

org/threeriversmi

April 2012 Newsletter

Remember & Honor Loved Ones with Luminaries

When we join together to celebrate life at the 2012 Relay for Life, those who have fought their own battles with cancer will shine a light on the walking path. Part of the fundraising for Relay for Life comes from the sale of luminaries. What is the Luminary Ceremony? The Luminary Ceremony is held after dark to honor and remember those who have fought cancer. White bags lit by single candles line the walking track and contain the names of those who have battled cancer. It is often called the Ceremony of Hope. How do I sell the luminary bags? Luminary bags are sold for $10 each. Bags are available at the team meetings or by contacting Jodi Haynes (jodi.haynes@cancer.org). The person purchasing the bag will designate the bag "in honor of" or "in memory of" a cancer survivor. You will keep a list of the names that will be on the bags. How are the bags decorated? There are many options for decorations. You can have the people that purchased the bags decorate them, you can decorate them or a combination of both. Some teams like all of their bags to have a consistent look and some like each bag to have it's own identity. The decoration can be as simple as a name or as complex as the person decorating it would like. What is the Luminary Scrolling Names List that is due on Bank Night? This is the list you are keeping of the names on your luminary bags. During the ceremony, this list will scroll on a big screen while music plays in the background. Photos may be included next to the names for an additional $10 - ($20 total donation). This list must be turned in no later than Bank Night! You may turn in the form included in the Team Captain packet or turn the list in electronically. If you have a Word doc or Excel spreadsheet with the names, we prefer you email this to Shelly Cassel (shelly@armintl.com)! Electronic delivery is the best way to ensure that names are spelled correctly as we can cut & paste them right from your document. What do I do with the bags on Friday night at Relay? Make sure you remember to bring your luminary bags to Relay! We will have extra white bags available in case you sell some at your campsite. Some time before dark, you need to fill your bags. There will be cardboard boats & candles available for you. You will fill each boat with sand from the sand pits on the football field. You will then place the sand filled boat in your luminary bag and set the candle in the sand. When placing your bags around the track, please make sure the entire inside of the track is filled before placing bags on the outside of the track - even if this means some of your bags will not be directly in front of your tent! The goal is to complete a full circle around the track. At dark, take a long tipped lighter and light the candles in your bags. What do I do with the bags on Saturday morning at Relay? Before packing up your campsite, please remove the boats from your luminary bags and dump the sand back in the sand pits. Then, please dispose of your luminary bags, boats & candles.

IMPORTANT DATES
April 26 - Team Meeting #2 May 4 - T-Shirt Forms Due May 11 - Sponsorship Forms Due May 24 - Team Meeting #3 May 24 - Canopeum Forms Due May 24 - Sunshine Sign Forms Due June 19 - Bank Night June 19 - Luminary Scrolling Names Due June 22 & 23 - Relay for Life August 2 - Wrap Up Meeting

Team Captain meetings are held at the Kadant Johnson R&D Center. Bank Night will be held at the Joco Center at Kadant Johnson.

Find Us on FACEBOOK
www.facebook.com/ threeriversrelay

Sponsorship Update
This year our sponsorship goal is $12,000. The names on the right have committed so far this year. Sponsorship forms are due to the ACS office no later than May 11. Remember - sponsorships count toward your fundraising total!

American Axle - $2500 Meijer - $1000 Southern Michigan Bank & Trust - $500 IMED - $500 Century Bank & Trust - $250 Pat's Pontoon - $250 Hot Rodders Ink - $250

Read & Subscribe to our BLOG

threeriversrelay. wordpress.com

Relay Recess
This year we will be bringing our first Relay Recess to St. Joseph County. It will take place at Hoppin Elementary School on June 1st from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Relay Recess brings Relay for Life to elementary schools. It engages students in the fight against cancer through fundraising activities that support cancer programs and services in our community. The program increases knowledge of healthy behaviors that will help students stay well and involves them in fun, physical activities. In addition, it gives students the chance to get out of the classroom and have fun with entertainment and activities that reinforce what they have learned. If your elementary age child is not a student at Hoppin, you can still teach them about the three main components of Relay Recess: cancer education, fundraising & physical activity. The Relay Recess website, www.relayrecess.org, has activities & games for parents and teachers to download. Since this is our first year staging a Relay Recess event, we are using Hoppin as our "test" school. We hope to bring this exciting event to the other elementary schools in 2013.

COMMITTEE CONTACTS
Event Chair Danielle Rohrer danielle.rohrer@kadant.com Event Co-Chair Danielle Bent dbent@trschools.org Team Development Chair Cassidy Munn cassidymunn2007@gmail.com Entertainment/Activities Chair Jared Hoffmaster jaredhoffmaster@centurybt.com Survivorship Chair Sally Cotton scotton@smb-t.com Online/Promotions Chair Kandi Hagenbuch kandi.hagenbuch@kadant.com Mission/Advocacy Chair Mary Dechow marydechow@comcast.net Logistics Chair Travis Rohrer trohrer@trschools.org

Day of Relay Logistics

If you have any special requests for the Logistics Team, please contact Travis Rohrer (trohrer@trschools.org) or Chad Corte (chad.corte@kadant.com). Campsites - Each Relay team will be assigned a campsite on the grass around the track. If you participated in Relay last year, you will recieve the same campsite location unless otherwise requested to the Logistics Team. Electricity - Is extremely limited! Teams will be assigned to electricity enabled campsites on a need basis only. You must be doing a fundraiser that requires electricity and you must put in your request to the Logistics Team by June 1st. They will try to accomodate as many teams as possible. Tents - You may bring any tent to use at your campsite as long as it doesn't exceed 20'x30'. You may also rent a tent from Canopeum - the form is due no later than May 24. Please get your Canopeum request in as early as possible!