Ready to Relay

Published 7:35 pm Saturday, May 11, 2013

The 2013 Relay For Life of Suffolk is coming on Friday, and there are still chances to participate and help raise money for the fight against cancer.

Opening ceremonies are set for 6 p.m. at Bennett’s Creek Park, 3000 Bennetts Creek Park Road. Nearly $130,000 has been raised so far by 77 teams and 884 participants.

The emotional survivor lap will take place shortly after the opening ceremony, followed immediately by the survivors’ dinner, and the somber luminaria ceremony will occur at 9 p.m.

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Luminaria bags will be sold at the Relay for $10 each. For the second year, the Relay has partnered with the Salvation Army to collect canned food to weight the bags, instead of sand. After the event, the canned food will go to the Salvation Army.

A number of fundraising opportunities will be conducted by teams at Relay, so visitors should bring plenty of cash — and some old shoes.

In addition to luminaria bags, car raffle tickets will be sold. Tickets are $5 each for a chance to win a Volkswagen Jetta or a Jeep Wrangler.

Several teams will sell food, including Subway, Chick-fil-A, hot dogs, barbecue and fruit smoothies.

The East End Baptist Church team will collect used shoes to turn in for cash. The team will receive $2 per adult pair and $1 per children’s pair. The deal excludes sandals.

The Island Boy band will play from 8 to 9, and Tyler Lane and Morgan Miller will play at 9:30 p.m. After that, disc jockey Benford Hunter will spin tunes, and karaoke will be available.

The closing ceremony will take place at 6 a.m. after a full night of walking in the fight against cancer.

For more information, visit www.relay.org/suffolkva.