The weather was inconsistent and the numbers lower than normal, but it wasn't enough to dampen spirits at the sixth annual Relay For Life at Brennan Park on Friday and Saturday (June 24 and 25).
Rain fell off and on for parts of the 12-hour overnight fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society, and with so many events happening last weekend, it's no surprise that the numbers were lower than years past, event coordinator Lisa Merrick said. Yet despite the conditions, people still found ways to have a successful relay.
In some ways the rain may have even been beneficial, Merrick said.
"We had a little bit of rain but I think it actually just made everyone snug in and get a little bit cozy. There seems to be a lot more sharing of fires, all Kumbaya-like."
But attendance was still lower than in previous years. "We're seeing a decline in participants. It's hard - 撸奶社区is a really busy town," she said. "There are eight events happening this weekend. People can't do it all. When we're down with participants, we're down with donor dollars as well."
The event raised $98,000, far below the goal $140,000, though final figures weren't available at press time. However, it wasn't for a lack of trying for both team participants and volunteers who still managed a successful relay.
"We had 268 participants, 27 active teams that did fundraising," Merrick said. "There's an amazing amount of youth that have come out to volunteer, including local high school students and some really great university students.
"We have the same core of volunteers that come year after year, including the survivor volunteers. It's really personal for them and they really want to see a good event."
From organizers and volunteers to survivors and team participants, the positive vibe and fun atmosphere continued through the night and into the early hours of the morning.
"The teams love it, that's why they participate. We had five categories that you could sign up as -friends and family, school, corporate, small business and community. So we have all of those types of teams that signed up.
"Some of the corporate teams that have come through are Save-On-Foods and Miller Capilano;, they've come through amazingly, they had lots of participants. And of course there's Starbucks. I think they had 40 people at their site. The great thing about those three teams is that they're also sponsors, they help put on the event in a logistical manner and they have teams here as well," Merrick said.
The sixth Relay for Life was the first as co-ordinator for Merrick, who was both a participant and volunteer in previous years.
Merrick hopes that next year people from outside the 撸奶社区area will be encouraged to participate in the event.
"We would love for more people in the corridor to take part. I think they kind of see it as a 撸奶社区event, but it's really not; it's just based in 撸奶社区because we have the space and the size and the population number in comparison to Whistler and Pemberton. It would be great if they participated next year and maybe we could turn it into the Sea to Sky relay."
In total, the Relay for Life has raised more than $500,000 in its six years in Squamish, starting with raising $75,000 in its first year and progressively gaining momentum until it reached a high of $148,000 last year.
It may not have raised the amount most had hoped for, but that doesn't mean the 2011 edition of the Relay For Life wasn't a success in its own right.
"It was created for the community to come together and make it a fun, hopeful, emotional event, and to make as much money as we can to fight and cure cancer and have a good time doing it," Merrick said.
Though there's no date set for 2012, registration is already open. Info and registration can be found at www.relaybc.ca
