Despite the public notifications and a letter writing campaign, the attendance at the two Humboldt Relay for Life public meetings, the most recent on January 16, have been exceptionally small. But, Dean Butcher, manager of the Saskatoon unit of the Canadian Cancer Society is confident there is enough interest in Humboldt for Relay for Life to return to Humboldt this spring.
"Jodi Smith, the last treasurer has agreed to come back and I have the name of a person who, we believe, will chair the committee," said Butcher to the four meeting attendees.
"To get started you simply need to pick a date and a venue," he said. "You can pick the date and we can put it onto the Humboldt page of our website and leave the venue as TBA (to be announced)."
Humboldt's first Relay for Life was held in 2003 and every third year following except 2012.
"When Humboldt first got involved, they said they only wanted to host it every three years," said Butcher. "That was fair. Last year because of the RBC Cup, the request was made to postpone it, which made perfect sense."
Unlike the 2003, 2006 and 2009 relays that were chaired by Laurie and Eugene Graf, the 2013 version is seeking new leadership chairs.
"They said it was time to pass the torch," said Butcher in reference to the Grafs.
He noted that at the initial public meeting back then, only six people attended but they adopted a "Let's Do It" attitude and the result was a string of three successful Relays in Humboldt. Butcher believes the support is still here to continue the trend.
Relay for Life is the single, largest fundraising event for the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). It is an inspirational, non-competitive, 12-hour overnight fundraising event that brings the community together to celebrate life and fight cancer in a festival-like atmosphere.
The funds raised are put into the various programs and services the society provides.
"Relay has allowed us to talk to people, like the cancer survivors, to determine whether what we are doing as a society is meeting their needs," said Butcher. "We don't build buildings, we build lives."
Throughout the years, the society has evolved to better suit its clients' needs and one such change coming in 2013 is the shift of the annual conference in a central location to regional conferences.
"We are taking the conference to the people," he said. "It should be more cost effective and may allow more people to attend. The host communities are yet to be determined."
Because of Relay for Life, programs and events such as the conference are available to all people -- not just those who are on a cancer journey. Because cancer affects entire communities, CCS includes the public at large and not just those directly affected by the illness.
To ensure an even greater portion of the donations gathered for Relay for Life go to the cause, the goal for this year's participants is to have everyone online.
Butcher explained there are advantages to both the donors and the society.
"Sponsors who donate online can print their tax receipt instantaneously," he said. "When we receive a sponsor form with a credit card number on it, we have to input that number, issue the receipt and then mail it. That results in more money being eaten up in administrative costs that could be better put to use either in research funding or program/service funding for those who need it."
While the committee, date and venue need to be nailed down, Lynn Sokolan and Susan Dopko already have teams in place.
"I was a team leader for the 2006 Humboldt Relay for Life," said Sokolan. "It's a good cause and everyone knows someone who's had some type of cancer."
Looking back on her experience, Sokolan recalled it being a lot of fun even though participants are up all night.
"It doesn't feel like you've been going all night," she said. "There is tons of socializing. You'll meet a lot of new people and there is always something going on."
Sokolan noted the luminary lighting is really moving and adds just another element to the overall atmosphere of the event.
"There's no experience like it," she said.
Butcher said he will schedule the next meeting for the Humboldt event within the next two weeks. People are strongly encouraged to attend the next session so Humboldt's strong tradition of incredibly successful relays can be continued.
"In all the relays I've done," said Butcher. "Humboldt and Kindersley are the two communities where we went out with the idea and they picked up the idea and ran with it."
Interested participants are encouraged to help Humboldt successfully run with it again.
