Join the fight against cancer

ALBERTON- On October 3, 2014, CANSA Alberton hosted their first Relay for Life event at Alberton Rugby Club and they won the global CANSA award for the best novice relay worldwide.

This year, Relay for Life is taking place at Hoërskool Dinamika, on October 24. Tamara Wittstock, the administration manager at CANSA Alberton, says the message came through at about 03:30 in the morning and she had to really control herself not to wake everyone up.

Tamara’s mom, Penny Wittstock, is a volunteer at CANSA and a five time cancer survivor. “My work here keeps me going. This is what I live for. I don’t want payment, I want money for CANSA. This association offers people suffering from cancer hope and support. I basically work the whole year to get the relay off the ground.”

Last year saw about 60 teams competing, with between 10 to 15 volunteers per team. An amount of R280 000 was raised that night.

Each team walks from 18:00 in the evening until 06:00 the next morning, and one person per team has to be on the field during that period. Each volunteer pays R100 to enter and each team does fundraising for CANSA.

“It is a wonderful experience to sit in a room filled with cancer survivors and we have entertainment right through the night with singers, dancers, great food and various activities. We have fun at CANSA and enjoy the life we have,” says Penny.

“We hope to double the entries,” says Tamara. This event offers everyone from the community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. It represents hope that those who have lost their lives to cancer will not be forgotten, those facing cancer will be supported and one day cancer will be conquered.

If you want to walk in this wonderful relay, contact Penny at penny@wesplastics.co.za or Tamara at east@cansa.org.za or 083 400 3223. For more information visit the website www.relayforlife.org.za