Organizers of the ninth annual Karnes County Relay For Life are busy making preparations for the annual event, and they want to remind people that it’s not to late to register a team, join a team or participate as an individual.

This year’s event will happen at the Kenedy High School stadium in the night hours between 7 p.m. on Friday, May16 through 7 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, May 17.

Each year, across the nation, one event brings together entire communities to take part in the fight against cancer. That event is the American Cancer Society Relay For Life^®. It’s a time and place where people come to celebrate those who have survived cancer, remember those we’ve lost, and fight back against a disease that touches too many lives.

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature activity. It offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people camp out at a local football stadium and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relays are an overnight event that typically last 12 hours.

Teams of people from all walks of life have fun while raising much-needed funds to fight cancer and raise awareness of cancer prevention and treatment. Participants are encouraged to gather donations for the American Cancer Society as part of the event. The team registration fee is $25.

Karnes County Relay For Life Chairman Gretchen Dupnik said that people can sign up to participate in the event right up till the start of the event, but in order to make sure the participant gets a t-shirt in the right size, participants need to register by Monday, April 14.

Dupnik, who was chairman of the first Karnes County Relay For Life, has come full circle by being chairman of this year’s event. She said that Relay For Life has special meaning for many people in Karnes County, especially those whose lives have been touched by cancer.

"For me it has been one of the best and most fulfilling activities that I’ve taken part in," Dupnik said. "It pulls together people from all across the county from all walks of life and it is a time of celebration with those who have won their victory over cancer. It is very touching and very moving, especially through the survivorship ceremony. To help those people come together and for the first time sometimes, at Relay, they have been able to talk to someone else who has had the same type of experience and the same type of cancer as they have. There has been a good part of healing in that."

Dupnik explained that the luminaria ceremony, in which the stadium is darkened and candlelit luminarias are displayed in honor of those affected by cancer, is especially healing for those who have lost someone.

"It gives others hope," Dupnik said.

The survivorship ceremony will take place shortly after the start of the event and the survivors and caregivers will take the first lap.

A new event this year planned for 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning is the Fight Back Ceremony in which people will be recognized who support the mission of the American Cancer Society in various different ways.

The event will recognize people who take up the fight against cancer every day – in one way or another, Dupnik explained.

So far, there are 14 teams registered for the Karnes County Relay for Life. If you are interested in registering a team, joining a team, or participating as an individual, contact Chairman Gretchen Dupnik for more info at 583-9616 or e-mail her at gdupnik@sbcglobal.net. You can also visit the Karnes County Relay for Life web site for more information by clicking the link at www.thecountywide.com.