As chair of this year’s American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Calvert County, I would like to thank residents of Calvert County for their generosity and support. More than 138 teams, 250 survivors, 1,800 team participants, which included all of our county schools, many churches, teams of families and friends, businesses, scout troops and co-workers, raised $394,000 to help the society’s fight for every birthday, threatened by every cancer, here and throughout the world. One-hundred percent of all monies raised at the event is donated to the American Cancer Society. I want to offer a great big thank you to Outback Steakhouse, Beef-N-Up Barbecue and Lunchbox Café and the many other teams that provided food, drink and games for the event.

This outstanding show of support proves that the people of Calvert County stand shoulder to shoulder with the American Cancer Society to achieve its mission of saving lives by helping people stay well, by helping people get well, by finding cures and by fighting back.

We were honored to be joined by hundreds of survivors and their guests at our fabulous Survivor Celebration, which was hosted by Lynne Sneade, Tricia Willis, Darla Sneade, Laura Hatcher and countless sponsors and volunteers. On June 17, our survivors again came to the event and walked the opening survivors lap, officially kicking off this year’s event. These survivors are the reason we continue the fight. Their participation inspires hope in those currently battling cancer. Our second lap was our caregiver lap with music sung by Katie Howeth. This lap shows the dedication and love of those that give care and love to survivors and also caregivers. One of the highlights of the night is the Luminaria ceremony with more than 1,200 bags. This is always a very solemn time, and this year was no different. We had five loving caregivers, all touched by losses this year, speak as we lit the bags for our loved ones led by bagpipe music by Steve Campbell.

A special thanks goes out to the many Relay For Life volunteers who worked to make this event a success — celebrating the lives of those who have battled cancer, remembering loved ones lost and pledging to fight back against the disease. The Relay For Life committee did an outstanding job of putting the event together. Thank you to all of our committee volunteers for the countless hours in the past 12 months that we have spent together planning for the 2012 event. We are all 100 percent volunteers, and your dedication to this event is beyond comprehension. This event is very important to each of you, and you are invaluable to this event.

We also appreciate the generosity of our many business sponsors for their individual and company donations. Thank you for showing support in allowing our teams to raise donations with car washes at your locations, bake sales, school fundraisers, dine-to-donate at many restaurants, bike races, ball games, cheer tournaments, individual fundraising by families and friends, etc. This year we even had a billboard donated to us by Sneade’s Ace Home Center to help inform the community about the event, and along with our famous purple feet, we led thousands to Hallowing Point Park.

Relay For Life of Calvert County would not be possible without all of our community and business partners. Our community is so generous with the resources and support of our county commissioners, sheriff’s office, board of education, parks and recreation and the many other resources from our county and businesses.

Did you miss the event but still want to donate or get involved for next year? You can do that by calling 410-721-4304 and mentioning that you want to make your tax deductible donation or volunteer for Relay For Life of Calvert County, or online at www.calvertcountyrelayforlife.org. We would also welcome any individual or business that previously supported the American Cancer Society by donations to the Cancer Crusade and Celebration of Life Gala. The American Cancer Society still needs and values your donations, and we hope you will continue to support this great cause. Contact me directly at 410-535-1668.

Paula Rosnage, Prince Frederick

The writer is the chairwoman for Relay For Life of Calvert County.