Special to The PREVIEW
Photo courtesy Jeanette BeanFundraising winners were announced and awards were presented at a special planning meeting for Relay for Life held on Monday, Aug. 25.
The top three teams for 2014 were the Methodist church, the combined Rotary clubs, and the ladies of Alpine Lakes Ranch.
The top individual fundraisers were Joanne Haliday, Jeanette Bean and Jim Haliday, who were inducted into the Grand Club (raising $1,000 or more), along with Sam Conti and Jack Threet.
This year’s Relay for Life raised a total of $27,140 for the fight against cancer, with a total of 10 teams participating.
During this meeting, plans were formulated for a new look in 2015 for the local Relay for Life event. Discussion focused on more ways to involve the community and generate fun for the whole family.
This year’s efforts were made more difficult by the absence of a specialist representative from the American Cancer Society. Also new this year, is an addition to the office in Durango — Valerie Hargis, who is charged with overseeing and helping organize the 2015 event. She brings with her a new enthusiasm and a plan for the new look.
The plan includes spreading the responsibilities of all the chairs out to a more doable number of people, returning to Town Park, having it be a Saturday event, providing more games for the kids, and having much more food available for purchase. The planners also suggested an educational program for the public ... to inform them of the many services available directly through the American Cancer Society.
In the meantime, Hargis is accepting potential volunteers for the general chair, as well as all the other chairmanships.
If you would like to be involved, Contact Valerie at valerie.hargis@cancer.org or by phone at 247-1667.
