Honourary Chairperson Marni Mullis cuts the ribbon signifying the beginning of the 2019 Relay for Life on Saturday. (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff)

By Brady Bateman

Down with Cancer

Relay for Life raises money for Cancer awareness, research

Jun 8, 2019 | 5:22 PM

The Canadian Cancer Society held their 2019 Relay for Life in Prince Albert on Saturday.

The annual event saw hundreds of members of the community come together with the goal of raising funds to go towards cancer research. This year’s fundraising goal was $83,740.

Co-Chair for the event, Lyle Karasiauk, said the importance of the day was to show that a Cancer diagnosis does not constitute a death sentence.

“We’re here because there isn’t a person that isn’t in some way touched by cancer. Somewhere, someone in your life is going to be touched by it, but life is so much bigger than cancer,” Karasiauk said.

Suspects at large

Hunt for suspects continues in challenging conditions near Thunder Rapids

8h ago

Election 2024

Prince Albert voters share why they support their chosen party

16h ago

Armed suspects

UPDATE: Two suspects caught, two still at large, alert cancelled

18h ago

“We want to be able to celebrate our lives. All you had to do today was look around and see the more than 200 survivors that were here today to see that we are all so much more than this terrible disease.”

Karasiauk also noted that the event was to be hosted outdoors, but in the matter of the last 72 hours the organizers and the city were able to transfer the entire venue to be held inside the Alfred Jenkins Field House.

Also in attendance of the event was Honourary Chairperson Marni Mullis, who was both a relayer and a survivor.

“As a Cancer survivor I wanted to give back to the community. I’ve lived here all of my life and it’s my home,” Mullis said.

“It’s good to see all these people come out and support those who are struggling with cancer, those who have had it before, or those who have lost someone to cancer.”

Mullis added her message to all those in the community, and to anyone else was that of hope, adding that those afflicted may have Cancer, but Cancer does not have them.

The relay runs from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. Saturday. A number of teams will walk throughout the day in honour of those affected affected by Cancer. The event is free to attend, and open to the public.

—

Update: A total of $69,221 was raised from the 2019 Relay for Life. There were a total of 95 participants, and 136 survivors. The top-fundraising team was the PAGC Tumorinators with a total of $10, 285 raised.

brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy