A 24-Hour Walk Honors Cancer Survivors And Its Victims | DiscountCigarettesBox.com Tobacco News

A 24-Hour Walk Honors Cancer Survivors And Its Victims

Purple t-shirts, sneakers and nods to superheroism filled the Hanford Rants Stadium at Gahr High School as the unrelenting sun proved irrelevant against the big hearts circling the stadium’s track.

A community has never walked taller than on the morning of June 25, when the 2011 Cerritos-Artesia Relay For Life proved to be 24 hours of one real fight against cancer.

Every year, for nearly a decade, students, parents and good-hearted Cerritos and Artesia community members have gathered, by way of the American Cancer Society, to participate and contribute to a 24-hour walk-a-thon, honoring and supporting those who have beaten or lost their lives to cancer. Teams and individuals sign up their time – and in the best case, raise a great deal of money – toward the fight against cancer.

The participants are comprised of children, adults, cancer survivors and those who have lost loved ones to the disease. Only one general rule exists for the walkers: each team must have at least one representative on the track at all times during the 24-hour period from 9 a.m. to 9 a.m.

The opening ceremony on this warm Saturday consisted of stories shared by community members and leaders about why they’re pledging their time (and legs) to the cause.

Artesia’s Mayor, Victor Manalo, voiced his thoughts on the idea of who really is a hero.

“Those of you who have survived cancer are survivors,” he said. “The loved ones and the supporters, we are also heroes.”

Knowing the risks of leading an unhealthy lifestyle, Manalo has chosen to take better care of himself to reduce the risk of cancer. This includes reducing stress levels and being cautious of what he’s exposed to.

“I have to choose to be physically fit,” Manalo said. “I have to make choices with what I’m eating.”

Cerritos Councilman Jim Edwards also shared a story about a man whose name was given to the very stadium the event was held in. Edwards spoke of his close relationship with Dr. Hanford Rants, a man who was inducted into the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame for coaching at Gahr.

“When Hanford died of cancer, I spoke at his funeral,” Edwards said. “I had a great role model in him. He was a second dad to me”

The relay was kicked off by a lap strictly for cancer survivors. Donning purple shirts, men and women both young and old circled the track as friends and family cheered them on. Cancer survivor, Ulla Herman, said Relay For Life is one of the most wonderful things we can do for survivors.

“It feels like you have company,” she said. “You are not alone, and there’s hope out there. If we can establish a cure from all this hope, it’s absolutely worth it. Just the feeling of friendship and caring that is here is unbelievable.”

Survivor Rhonda Gobas said there is a great deal of awareness due to the number of local Relay For Lifes being held by the ACS and the their exposure on the internet.

“When you come here, you meet people that have something in common with you, and maybe a different cancer,” Gobas said. “Everybody is either a survivor or knows a survivor or knows somebody who lost their battle. Everybody is working toward the same goal to wipe out cancers, and everybody to have more birthdays.”

Gobas’ husband, Harvey Gobas, also wore a purple shirt and said events like this one bring attention to “The Big C.”

“One thing they do is bring attention to the fact that not everyone dies from cancer,” he said. "There’s lots of survivors, which is evident from this event.”

Surrounding the inner portion of the track were carefully set-up information booths and tents – a way for walkers to rest and grab a quick refreshment before continuing the relay or switching up team members. A surprising attendee of the relay was LA-based rapper, Bambu, known by his fans to be very active in his own community.

Behind the booth of Healthy Lungs @ Home – a coalition comprised of various organizations and community residents in Cerritos who desire better protections against secondhand smoke cigarettes in their homes – Bambu and Wendy Natividad handed out flyers explaining their cause as well as signing up people to their mailing list.

“It (Relay For Life) raises awareness and it also lends support to an issue,” Bambu said. “It has nothing to do with any outside factor. We’re trying to educate the community about secondhand smoke cigarettes in multi-unit housing. We’re going out into these urban communities and places like Cerritos, and we’re just trying to let folks know that secondhand smoke cigarettes can affect you living in your house.”

Wendy Natividad said secondhand smoke cigarettes has about 7,000 different chemicals in it, and over 70 carcinogens are cancer causing agents.

As the halfway point approached about 9 p.m., the sun bowed out to reveal a remarkable arrangement around the track of luminarias -- paper bags decorated and filled to honor those who lost their battle with cancer. Each bag was filled with a glowstick to light the field as the stadium lights were turned off. To the east and west bleachers, the words “CURE” and “HOPE” spelled out in luminarias. At the stage area, participants gathered to watch a slide show showing those lost to cancer. Each provided with a glowstick, people were instructed to break their stick (lighting it up) if they have lost someone to cancer or known someone who has. The result: a sea of multi-colored lights.

Of course, Relay For Life wouldn’t have been able to happen without the talent of such supporters as 7-year participant Event Chair Gabriel Santos and Relay For Life manager Sylvia Costanza; each have lost a loved one to cancer.

“After I came my first year, I found all the great things that the relay does,” Santos said. “I found out a lot of my family actually had cancer and passed away. The pain that people feel is something I don’t want to feel again.”

According to Costanza, this year's relay has been one of the best relays the ACS had.

“We’re hoping that some of the teams that couldn’t come back this year will come back next year, and more of the community will get involved," Costanza said. "It's such a good cause."


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