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Youngstown Relay for Life hosts annual event
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
YOUNGSTOWN
When Nicole Denno’s father was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1984 at age 36, the word “cancer” was one that people just wouldn’t say. It automatically connoted death.
“They told him he was dying,” said Denno, event chairwoman for the American Cancer Society’s Youngstown Relay for Life. “It’s not like [cancer] is a dirty secret. There’s hope behind it.”
Denno said she is motivated by cancer survivors like her father, who is cancer-free today at age 66, to raise awareness of the disease and funds for its research through events such as this weekend’s Youngstown Relay for Life.
The Youngstown Relay for Life began at 6 p.m. Friday with an opening ceremony at Youngstown State University’s Beeghly Center, and will continue until noon today.
The 18 intervening hours were set to be filled with a host of activities — among them a luminaria ceremony that honors cancer survivors and remembers those who lost their battle with the disease, and decade-themed events, such as disco-dance and big-hair contests.
Twenty-some teams — including YSU student organizations and groups of family, friends and co-workers — registered for the overnight event and will continue to collect money for cancer research, programs and services at their tent sites until its end, said Cheri Metzinger, an event chairwoman for Youngstown Relay for Life.
Before the event’s start, $21,000 had been raised by participating teams, but Metzinger said she’s hoping to bump that amount up to $45,000. She added that she’s thrilled by how many hundreds of people come out to support such events.
“It brings awareness to something that gets forgotten about, even though we are so close to finding a cure,” Metzinger said. “It brings us closer to having a world without cancer.”
Greg Lawrence, publicity chairman for Youngstown Relay for Life, added that educating people about cancer through events such as Relay for Life is extremely important. After all, the sooner cancer is identified, the better a person’s chances for survival.
And for some, being in the presence of so many survivors can give them hope.
For mother-and-daughter Michelle and Sammantha Bonacci of Austintown, the event was a way to remember a family member who died of cancer and another who still is fighting. The two were members of Team O.U.P.S., from the Ohio Utilities Protection Service.
Sammantha Bonacci, a freshman at YSU, said her grandfather lost his battle with lymphoma four years ago, while her grandmother — Geneva Peck, Michelle Bonacci’s mother — recently was diagnosed with lung cancer. Luckily, doctors caught her grandmother’s cancer early and were able to treat her at Cleveland Clinic with the new and extremely precise stereotactic radiation therapy. Now she’s doing wonderfully.
“Today we’re here to support her fight,” Sammantha Bonacci said.
“We were just so lucky,” Michelle Bonacci added.
The event was bittersweet for Kathy Jones of Boardman, a member of Team Vinkler, and Metzinger’s mother. Friday marked 11 years to the day that her father died of colon cancer. Her team was named in his honor.
“I had tears in my eyes just watching the survivors walk,” Jones said. “It’s to remember everybody who suffered, and to honor the people who have gone through it or who are going through it.”