The 10th annual Relay for Life is now history. No doubt the organizers of this event will be making their usual post-event assessments regarding the role this program takes in the community.
We have heard background rumblings that perhaps the Relay has “run its course,” and it was now time to bid it farewell, or at the very least, take a sabbatical.
What prompted these thoughts and suggestions have been recent declines in funds being raised and participants and their engagement with the project. There were concerns expressed about needing the same principle players to come forward year-after-year to lead the charge. Even with a few new faces each year, it appeared as if the steady stalwarts were being called upon to ensure continued success.
With this year’s Relay for Life down to six teams and a total of $38,000 raised with $10,000 of that coming from a Mini-Relay for Life supported by school students, there is good reason for the speculation to begin anew.
Earlier Relays chalked up fundraising totals well over $100,000. So, perhaps the gloss was coming off with the downturn in the oil patch and the super generous support from local businesses.
Some blamed the fact that after the first few Relays were conducted outdoors, the move to inside climate-controlled settings removed the camaraderie and team-building aspect of the event. Participants were no longer required to battle through a little adversity in the early morning hours with some rain coming down or additional winds to combat. The flesh and the spirit were weakened, they suggested.
Perhaps Estevan went at it too hard and too fast in those early years, not allowing the Relay to gain momentum in the hearts and minds of the local populace.
But, is a slow-down in funding or participation a sure sign of failure?
“Is raising $38,000 for a cause as good as this, a failure?” noted one observer.
Is it necessary to break a record every year?
Are the organizational efforts put into the Relay for Life considered wasted if $38,000 is raised, instead of $60,000 or $70,000?
Only those who do the yeoman work year-after-year can answer that one.
There are many Saskatchewan communities of similar size who would salivate at the prospect of raising $38,000 in one fell swoop from one event. Maybe we’ve become spoiled on the fundraising front.
Community, organizational and individual fundraising events are increasing in numbers and expectations every year. We can hardly pick any week out of the year when there isn’t some kind of special event being staged in the Energy City to raise funds for a worthy cause.
Those events, small and large, absorb a lot of time and energy and now that the financial results are not as rewarding, some people in some quarters, may be deciding it might be time to back-off for awhile. Of course, the danger there is, if you let it go once, you stand a good chance of never being able to revive it.
Our suggestion would be to accept this ebb in the tide of fundraising with the expectation of once again returning to a strong wave and flow of funds in a year or two or three. Keep the event, the spirit and sincere intention of the Relay for Life at the forefront of your thoughts, along with the knowledge that it doesn’t have to be a grand smash record-breaking extravaganza every year. A more subtle approach for a year or two might relieve the pressure while still bringing in worthwhile cash to combat cancer.
