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Relay raises $88K for cancer research

Hundreds of people gathered to save lives and combat cancer this weekend.

Twenty teams raised more than $88,000 during the Mower County Relay for Life, but organizers weren’t stopping there, as Mary Hanson said Sunday they were asking teams to raise more to reach the $90,000 goal. Last year, the Relay made about $86,000.

“The Relay for Life is great and gets people together for a common cause,” said Mike Simmons, a cancer survivor and one of this year’s honorary co-chairs.

During the opening ceremonies, survivors held the annual survivors’ lap on the path, led by Simmons and the other honorary co-chair, Megan Tapp. Teams walked throughout the night, and after dusk lit luminaries to honor survivors and those who lost their lives to cancer.

Simmons, whose wife is the team captain of the IBI Data team, was diagnosed with bone cancer last January.

Simmons had chemotherapy, and he later had surgery to remove a tumor. The tumor had spread from the bone to his muscles, so Simmons had a hip and part of his femur replaced. He now has to walk with a cane, but doesn’t seem to mind.

“A little bit of recovery and everything’s good,” he added.

Before last year, Simmons wasn’t officially on his wife’s IBI Data team but helped out. His experience with cancer changed his mind.

“Last year convinced me that maybe I should get a little bit more involved,” he said.

Simmons said that anyone with cancer should rely on their friends and family.

“You need support,” he said. “It’s a rough road, but we’ll all get through it — someday there’ll be a cure.”

Organizers hope events like Mower’s Relay for Life, which is only one of more than 5,000 communities and 20 countries holding relays, will help raise money to get closer to that cure.

The monetary goal isn’t the chief concern of organizers. A few minutes before the 6 p.m. opening ceremonies Saturday, Chair Linda Baier said she prefers not to know the goal.

“We do our best,” she said, adding that all the money helps.

Bair, who started with the relay as a team member in 1998 and took on a leadership role in 2000, said she’s had many family members affected by cancer.

“Unfortunately, it goes up each year,” she said.

The money raised at the relay goes to the American Cancer Society and many tools to combat cancer, from research at places like the University of Minnesota and The Hormel Institute, to money for patient services and things like the Hope Lodge in Rochester and wigs for cancer patients.

Baier said she and other volunteers continue to be involved to support their family members and organizations in the fight against cancer.

“There’s more work to be done,” Baier said.