The 10th Relay for Life in Estevan this past June might have been the last in the city.
Jaimie Bashutski, a director of development with Canadian Cancer Society said in an interview with the Mercury last week that there won’t be a Relay for Life in Estevan in 2016. Instead, the organization is bringing its Jail and Bail fundraiser to Estevan.
“After discussions with the (local Relay for Life) committee, they just thought that after 10 years, it was time for something new and exciting,” said Bashutski.
The numbers for Estevan’s Relay in 2015 were really low, she said. The event attracted six teams and raised $38,213.16 for the fight against cancer. The 2014 edition of the event had 12 teams and raised more than $85,000.
“They were hoping that on the 10th anniversary last year, we would have a bigger event, but it ended up being smaller, so they just wanted to try something new,” said Bashutski.
Due to the lower registration numbers, Estevan’s Relay in June was reduced from a 12-hour fundraiser to an eight-hour event.
The Mini-Relay for Life, which has been offered at a different school in the Estevan area each year since 2009, also won’t be returning next year. It went out on a high note, as it was held at St. Mary’s School, and it raised $10,009.65 this year. The figure was included in the community relay’s total.
Bashutski noted the Relay for Life has been around for 15 years in Canada, and Estevan isn’t the only community in Canada to opt for a new fundraiser.
“It’s not that people don’t want to be involved with the cancer society, they just want something new and exciting to be part of, so that’s what we’re trying to bring,” said Bashutski.
She’s not sure if the Relay’s absence from Estevan will be just a one-year sabbatical, but the local organizing committee is excited to try something new.
The Jail and Bail will happen on January 26, 2016 at the Estevan Shoppers Mall. Bashutski said it has become a very popular fundraiser for the cancer society. The decorations in the mall will be somewhat similar to Orange is the New Black – the popular women’s prison drama on Netflix.
“A co-worker can snitch on somebody else, or you can snitch on your family or friends to get them arrested,” said Bashutski.
Participants can be notified before the fundraiser that they are being arrested, so they can get a head start on the fundraising. Or it can be a surprise arrest.
“People are arrested by volunteers who are dressed as undercover cops,” said Bashutski. “The cops come to their office and pick them up on event day, and they are brought down to our mock jail, which is set up in the mall. We’ll have a judge sitting there, and we’ll have our defence attorney and our prosecutor.”
The defendant will appear before a judge to plea their case against the allegations. If they have already raised the bail, the judge will issue a pardon. If they haven’t, then they will sit in the jail for up to two hours, and call friends, family and co-workers for donations so they can make bail.
“While they’re in jail, they are given an orange jump suit to wear, and they get their mug shots taken, and we give them copies of those photos, and we do lots of social media around it as well, so people can see who’s in the jail,” said Bashutski.
The judge, prosecutors, defence attorneys, court reporters and paparazzi will also be volunteers from the community.
They have yet to finalize the volunteers, but they do have a list of names from the Relay for Life committee for individuals to arrest. A list of the most wanted will likely be issued before the event.
The Canadian Cancer Society has been running the Jail and Bail since the 1980s, but has been reinvented a few times to modernize it. Eight communities across Saskatchewan are participating in a Jail and Bail this fall and winter, and Bashutski said communities the size of Estevan have been known to raise between $20,000 and $30,000.
