Relay for Life celebrating hope, fight with April 21 walk at Central Park

Share, celebrate, remember and fight back: those are the ideas organizers of Homewood’s Relay for Life event hope participants will walk away with after this year’s event.

On April 21, Homewood Central Park will be filled with colorful community members in their best costumes and purple T-shirts for the 2017 Relay for Life event.

From Samford University Greek life to Homewood Middle School and beyond, American Cancer Society (ACS) representative Christina Zabala said Homewood’s Relay for Life event is an entire-community affair.

“It’s for anyone and everyone,” Zabala said.

Last year’s event raised almost $64,000 for the American Cancer Society, and Zabala said she and other organizers and volunteers are hopeful the 2017 event will bring in $75,000 or more.

The event will begin at 4 p.m., when teams and groups from around the city will set up booths with activities, food and games for small fundraisers as part of the bigger event, and will continue through the evening, with the traditional luminaria ceremony at 9 p.m.

The opening ceremony will feature recognition of the cancer survivors in attendance who will make a ceremonial lap around the track before being treated to dinner.

“Anybody who has heard the words ‘You have cancer,’ we just want to celebrate you,” Zabala said.

Committee member and former Chairwoman Mary Browning said celebrating the survivors is always one of her favorite moments.

“It’s very warm and fuzzy,” she said.

Browning has been helping with Relay for Life since 2006, and said she has been so glad to see the event grow from 100 people to nearly 700. “Unfortunately, cancer touches all of our lives,” Browning said, and invited anyone and everyone in the community who wants to participate to come to the event.

For more information, go to relayforlife.org/HomewoodAL or contact Zabala at christina.zabala@cancer.org.