Top fundraising team hosting second Relay For Life coon hunt (Relay For Life)
Published 4:07 pm Friday, January 29, 2016
By Jeannie Smith
From 1991 to 2012, the cancer death rate has dropped 23 percent. Those lives saved can be credited to Relay For Life teams like Pleasant Grove Baptist Church No. 1 in Chilton County.
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church No. 1 was the top fundraising team in 2015 for Chilton County Relay For Life, raising over $14,000 last year alone.
Jada Varden, who serves as the church’s team captain, shared a little history behind the church’s team and tremendous success.
“Our church has participated in the Chilton County Relay for life event for a number of years on and off. In 2010, a small group of church members led fundraising activities that raised over $8,000. We continued that trend in the years to come by gradually increasing our goals. In 2015, we reached an all-time high at $14,000.
“We have been so blessed with an outpouring of support from our church congregation and the community. This month, we celebrate our oldest most and successful fundraiser, the Relay for Life Auction on Feb. 6 at 5 p.m., and the newest fundraiser, our Second Annual Relay for Life Coon Hunt on Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m.
“Incorporating our new and old successes allows us to expand our community reach and is fun for all ages. Pleasant Grove has an open heart and giving spirit and would like to invite everyone to join us in the fight against cancer. Cancer has touched us all in some way or another; we pray for a cure daily and give God all the glory for everything we have accomplished! If you are looking for a church family, we would love to have you.”
The Second Annual Relay For Life Coon Hunt will be Feb. 20 with events beginning at 2 p.m. There is a $100 entry fee per team with a max of four dogs.
Hunt time is 5 p.m. to midnight—three coons, and the most weight wins.
There will also be a bench show at 2:30 p.m. with lots of door prizes! For more information on the hunt, call Chad Tillery at (205) 389-1877.
The American Cancer Society has launched a new web tool to make it easier for reporters, the public, and those involved in the cancer fight to find and share cancer statistics.
The Cancer Statistics Center (CancerStatisticsCenter.cancer.org) uses data from the Society’s annual Cancer Facts & Figures report and Cancer Statistics article (published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians), as well as much, much more data, to create a comprehensive interactive resource to help the public learn about the cancer burden in the United States.
The mobile and tablet friendly Cancer Statistics Center website creates a brand new way for readers to explore, interact with and share cancer statistics. It provides detailed statistics on a range of topics including:
•Estimated new cancer cases and deaths by sex, state and cancer type in the current year.
•Current cancer incidence, mortality and survival rates and trends for individual cancer sites.
•Risk factors (e.g.: smoking, obesity) and screening rates by state.
The website can be used to:
•View and download maps, graphs and charts.
•Create custom downloadable maps, graphs and charts.
•Export data to Microsoft Excel.
•Share specific statistics that are important to readers.
“We are thrilled to offer this simple-to-use interactive solution for finding important cancer data quickly and easily; a tool we think even those who are most averse to numbers, statistics, and data will find easy to use,” said Rebecca Siegel, MPH, strategic director of surveillance for the American Cancer Society and co-creator of the site. “We estimate there are more than 14,000 data points included in this framework, with all of the data made easily customizable and ready to insert into presentations and news stories.”
The Cancer Statistics Center website aims to serve the needs of cancer control advocates, journalists, government and private public health agencies and policymakers, as well as patients, survivors and the general public, in order to promote cancer prevention and control.
Jeannie Smith is a community manager for Relay For Life. Look for more articles from her in upcoming editions of The Clanton Advertiser.