Get behind fundraiser that mixes tears, smiles

Anna Wallis Photo/File

The Cancer Society's annual Relay for Life will be held at Cooks Gardens, Wanganui, on March 1.

If you haven't been, Relay for Life is a cross between Top Town, a concert, one of those dance marathons from the 1930s and a memorial service.

The unusual mix of sorrowand entertainment nevertheless works because it hits a "happy" medium between remembering those who have died of cancer, those who are battling it and those who have survived.

Cancer can be quite different from other diseases or illnesses. The shock of receiving a diagnosis is not mirrored in many other ailments. At the other end, for survivors, being free of cancer can take years and until an all-clear is given, survivors can be stalked by the prospect of the illness reappearing.

Highlighting the disease and therefore increasing rates of early detection is one of the many benefits of events such as the Relay For Life. Others are supporting people with cancer, funding cancer research and advocacy.

The relays, which happen all around New Zealand, have become an opportunity for communities to get together. There aren't that many during the year and they are as much a social occasion as a fundraiser or awareness raiser. Nationally, it involves 25,000 people and 5000 cancer survivors and caregivers doing the first lap at relays across the country.

Last year in Wanganui the relay raised at least $50,000 for the Cancer Society, all of which would be spent in the Wanganui-Rangitikei-Waimarino Cancer Society's region.

Cancer has never been much of a fun event but Relay for Life comes close to making it such. If you can support it, please do so.