NELSPRUIT – Residents of the capital city may witness some strange activities on March 8 and 9 this year, when thousands of superheroes are set to gather at Penryn College for one of the best supported community events held in the Lowveld – the annual CANSA Relay for Life (RFL).
It was announced at the launch event this week that the relay will take place at the Penryn grounds this year.
Nelspruit is one of 600 communities that partake in RFL annually across the globe. It is also, according to the chairman of the local RFL committee, Riaan Loubser, one of the most successful in terms of logistics and participation. “This year the Europeans may even be sending a representative to our event to learn how we do it,” he shared with the audience during the launch.
This year, the committee has set a target of 180 teams, and aim to raise more funds than in previous years. Committee member Sandra Jacobs explained that in the past, smaller relay events in the country, in terms of participant numbers, have raised more money than the well-supported local event. She urged people to “think outside of the box” and come up with creative ideas to raise the income bar at this year’s relay.
A few new additions to the programme were also announced, like a church service at 00:00 and in the early morning after the last lap. This was a suggestion by the Nelspruit Methodist Church , Loubser said.
Get your superhero team together and register
Now that the date and venue have been finalised, teams are encouraged to register. Request an electronic copy of the form from CANSA via jweideman@cansa.org.za. The cost is R750 per team of 15 up until February 28, but additional wrist bands can be bought for extra team members.
Thereafter, the cost escalates to R1 000 and to R1 500 for registrations after March 7.
The next team-captains’ meeting will take place on February 18.
About the superhero theme
You are exhausted, hungry, tired and in pain and feel that you can’t carry on, but you have to – that is what RFL is about, as Loubser describes it. It shows, he elaborates, a support for cancer patients who have to endure the above-mentioned on a much more intensive scale. And this is also what superheroes are all about- supporting and saving a community. Jacobs adds that the funds raised through this event is geared toward creating a world where no-one has to ever hear the words “you have cancer”, again.
BLOCK
Visit the CANSA Relay (Nelspruit) page on Facebook as well as CANSA B4L (Bark for Life) where information on the event will be posted from time to time.
END BLOCK
CTA- See the photo gallery of the launch event on lowvelder.co.za as well as video footage of cancer survivors sharing their experience of this disease at the RFL launch event.
