Montclair will host its first-ever Relay for Life on Friday, June 4, at Brookdale Park, thanks to the event’s chair, Erica Lowenthal, who took part in the Hoboken relay last year in memory of her late dad, Dr Hank Lowenthal, and decided to bring the event home.
Forty teams will be participating, and more than $73,000 has already been raised. Proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life – the biggest private funder of cancer research in the US.
The Relay celebrates the lives of those who have battled cancer and won, lost, or are still fighting back. Because cancer never relents, it’s an overnight event, beginning June 4 at 7:00pm and ending up to 24 hours later.
Each team has a reason, often a moving and personal one, for participating.
The leading fundraising team of My Big Walk, which has raised more than $8,500 so far, says on their page that they are “dedicated to cancer survivors Elaine Rapaport, Alex Nolan, Nanci Naegeli, Toni Martin, and Jenny Kydd.”
“Our friends have met and battled cancer. The women on our team are athletes, warriors, and ferocious fighters. We’re walking to keep the flame of the fight alive, and to light the dark night for those who are engaged in battle. Most of all, we’re walking for hope and unity.”
The entire community appears to be involved, including the Temptations of St Luke’s Church, Temple Ner Tamid, and schools such as Bradford, Hillside, Glenfield, Nishuane, MKA and Montclair High School.
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life provides emotional, screening and nutritional support and advice on healthy living. It funds research towards cures for cancer – 44 researchers supported by the ACS have gone on to win the Nobel Prize – and fights back, too. The society helped bring about the smoke-free law and assists low-income, uninsured or underinsured women with treatment or screening tests.
The event will be moving, and fun, too, with plenty of entertainment organized.
If you’d like to participate, it’s not too late!
Phyllis Lowenthal, who heads the team, The Page Turners, is in charge of the survivors’ dinner and walk that begins in the evening of June 4, and may be emailed here.
Sign up here, or just help towards finding a cure by making a contribution, here.
I live right on bdale park. Does anyone know how parking will work during that 24 hour period? Will the event be noisy? Just curious as I am not familiar w/ this event & hoping it is a safe and positive one for participants & neighbors alike!
Trust me, this isn’t a wild party; the ACS holds Relay events all over the country and has been doing so for over a decade, iirc. It’s a true community event, and although it goes overnight, I’m betting the organizers are planning to keep it mellow during the night.
If you haven’t been to a Relay, you should really stop by–it’s very inspiring, and after all, we’ve all been touched by this disease at some point. I’m betting that everyone reading this knows someone who has/had cancer. Go–and make a donation if you’re inspired to do so–I’m betting you will be!