Hope Has No Curfew

HOPE HAS NO CURFEW



Cancer Doesn’t Sleep and Neither Will We

Sometimes people wonder why we Relay all night long and stay overnight.

The Relay For Life event symbolizes the journey of a cancer survivor.

RELAY FOR LIFE starts at dusk and ends the next morning. The light and darkness of the day and night parallel the physical effects, emotion, and mental state of a cancer patient while undergoing treatment.



Often times RELAY begins when the sun is setting, symbolizing the time a person has been diagnosed with cancer. Immediately there is a lot of support. People rally to lend a helping hand, much like the Opening Ceremony at Relay when everyone cheers that first lap for Survivors.

As Survivors start their cancer treatment, it’s hard and taxing, just like when the light of day fades into darkness. As midnight comes, teams continue to walk the track, but it gets harder as the walking continues into the 6th and 7th hour and the night gets colder.



This time represents when a cancer patient becomes exhausted, sick, maybe not wanting to go on, possibly wanting to give up. As a Relay participant, you have been walking and feel much the same way. You are tired, want to sleep, you may even want to go home, but YOU CANNOT STOP or give up.

Around 4:00 to 5:00am symbolizes the coming of the end of treatment for the cancer patient. Things are beginning to look brighter, just like the break of dawn. A sense of HOPE emerges. The morning light brings on a new day full of life and new beginnings.



For the walkers who are making laps around the track, when the sun begins to peak, there is a strong sense of HOPE that they too can make it through.

As we make the final lap…… as a cancer survivor gets the final clearance from their doctor, we celebrate and we cross the finish line together.



It wasn’t easy -- It took a team……. It took commitment……. It took Hope.