By Khalida Sarwari
Looking around me at my first Relay for Life event, I couldn’t help but wonder the reason behind every person’s decision to be there. There were children running around without a care in the world, high school kids in their summer attire, their parents catching up over burgers and survivors in purple shirts having light-hearted conversations. What struck me is how cheerful everyone seemed to be despite the somber reason that brought them all together.
For Nola, a member of the Immanuel Irradiators team, Relay for Life is a time to pay tribute to her sister who died 10 years ago from breast cancer. For the past three years, she and her three teenage children have enjoyed camping out at the event. This year, she put them to work on a golf chipping contest they ran near the towering “HOPE” sign at the back of the St. Andrew’s field.
Later in the evening, the sign, which was made from an arrangement of candles spelling out the word, lit up the entire field during the luminaria ceremony, casting light for the survivors and supporters as they quietly circled the field, their hands cupped around candles.
After an entire 24 hours of walking, listening to musicians, eating and fundraising on site, the ceremony is a time of quiet reflection for many. The volume of conversations drops to quiet murmuring as the focus shifts to the paper bags propped up around the field, each lit by a candle inside to display tributes written by the loved ones of people whose lives cancer has taken or disrupted.
Certainly, the luminaria ceremony is typically the most poignant part of the event, but for me, it was an encounter with magician Kim Silverman earlier in the day that perhaps was the most enlightening. Bearing a strong resemblance to Gandalf with his distinctive twinkling eyes, long white beard and long white cloak, Silverman approached me at the Saratoga News team tent and asked if I wanted to see a magic trick. He proceeded to perform a routine using solid rings that he would deftly link and unlink, pass through each other and form chains. I oohed and ahhed, and being a curious cat, begged for him to show me how he did it. And like a good magician, he ignored me, but instead explained that the chains symbolized resilience in the face of obstacles and standing strong in the face of adversity. I stopped asking questions about his methods, resigned to the mystery of the magic act and captivated by his message about the power of possibilities.
My first Relay for Life, and first time fundraising for any cause, taught me many lessons. I signed up for the Saratoga News team without knowing what I was getting myself into, and quickly realized I didn’t really enjoy sticking out my hand and asking people for money, regardless of the fact that it wasn’t for me but for those who desperately need it.
Feeling like I needed to offer something in exchange, I held a barbecue fundraiser at my house and invited virtually everyone I knew. As part of that, I wanted to hold a raffle and so I set aside one afternoon to visit businesses in downtown Saratoga to ask for anything they could give me. This was not an easy feat, but in the span of just two hours, I managed to secure a handful of prizes from Bella Saratoga, Saratoga Chocolates, Cinnabar Winery Tasting Room and Saratoga Hair Studios. Of course, some places told me they were interested but didn’t follow through and some flat out said they couldn’t do anything for me.
What surprised me, too, was the people who donated–people with whom I hadn’t kept in touch or spoken to in years and some I’ve never met. One person, a friend of a friend’s who I hadn’t met and who had intended to come to my barbecue fundraiser but forgot about it until the last minute, knocked on my door just as I’d put everything away to hand me a $100 bill. Another day I received a generous donation from a former college classmate I hadn’t spoken to in at least six years. He left a note telling me that both he and his mother have had cancer. “It’s something really important to me,” he wrote. “I hope you reach your goal.”
I want him to know that it was those words and people like him that made me continue fundraising even when I wanted to give up every time I was rejected.
Relay taught me to step outside the box of my own ego and see the many facets of altruism. In the end, I raised $920, far exceeding my initial goal of $100 but falling a little short of my modified goal of $1,000. Along the way, I learned a lot about myself and about other people, and most importantly, about hope and about the power of possibility.
As of June 9, Relay had raised a combined total of more than $55,000 for the American Cancer Society, all made possible by people opening their hearts and coming together in the spirit of eradicating a disease that has touched the lives of almost everyone in one way or another.
On the second and final day of Relay, George Mageles, the 2013 event chairman, peered out over the field from atop the stage and remarked, “To me, what this has become is the field of life.” Serving testament to that were the 21 teams, 154 registered participants and more than 200 people who attended the eighth annual event.
Saratoga Relay for Life participants take steps to fight cancer
