Relay for Life was held on Saturday 4th March. Article below is by student, Casey Kinns.

Hi everyone,

My name is Casey and over the weekend I had the pleasure in participating and helping organise a team for the Relay for Life with Renee, alongside many staff and a few students from our school. The Relay for Life is a movement, a community of like-minded survivors, caregivers, volunteers, and participants who believe that the future can be free from cancer. As was mentioned a couple of times throughout the day, “We are fighting for the day that our future generations do not have to hear the words ‘you have cancer’”. Together we walked the track at Takaro Park from 2-9pm each taking shifts. It was such a great experience. We not only walked for a good cause but we played a number of games. We danced along to the music and some of us even joined in on some line dancing. Overall we laughed together and had some fun, despite the constant weather changes.

On a more serious note it was also a very emotional experience from the beginning till the end. The first lap was led by our Survivors and their Carers, starting it off with both a touching and special moment. Another special moment was towards the end, the candle-light ceremony. The track was decorated with glowing-candle bags dedicated to loved ones. We also listened to the story and on-going journey of Tanya, the 2023 Ambassador who herself is suffering from cancer. This was an emotional time which really brought together the experience and connected all of us together. It was a time that showed how each of us have all been impacted by cancer in some way, through ourselves or loved ones as well how important it is to come together for such a significant cause. In total there were 16 fundraising teams and 71 fundraising individuals. As a school team we raised $585, contributing to the all together total of $16,015. This money will go towards funding cancer research and supporting those in our North Otago region who are suffering from cancer. I just want to finish off by saying thank you to all of those who donated and participated in this event with us and I highly recommend you all to take part next year in some way.

Thank you :)