This year’s Benicia Relay for Life will have a number of changes from past years, said Leeann Cawley, a dedicated volunteer who will be among those guiding the 2015 event.

“The format for Relay has changed,” she said. “It is no longer 24 hours.”

Cawley has been with the Benicia Relay since she founded it in 2009. “This is our sixth year,” she said.

For years, the American Cancer Society urged individual community relays to last 24 hours, symbolizing the 24-hour-a-day battle cancer patients and their caregivers go through.

But now, organizers have options. They can keep the 24-hour format, or may shorten their events to six, 10, 12 or 18 hours. “We chose 18 hours,” Cawley said.
“It takes a huge amount of volunteers to put this on,” she said. “Their thought is to give volunteers a break.” The American Cancer Society officials also have suggested that a shorter period may boost participation.

This year, in Benicia, opening ceremonies will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 21 at Benicia High School’s sports track, and the relay will begin with the Survivors Lap, in which cancer survivors and their caregivers will start the nonstop procession.

Organizers are keeping the Luminaria Ceremony, in which bags of sand containing candles will be lit in honor of those who have been dealing with cancer and in memory of those who have fallen to the disease.

David Horn is the emcee for the event, and among those helping are Got Plate Lunch, providing dinner the first night of the event, and the Benicia Kiwanis Club, serving breakfast during the morning of the second day of the event.

While there won’t be an overall theme to this year’s edition of Relay for Life, Cawley said certain laps will have themes to keep the enthusiasm up through the night.

Morning entertainment will give volunteers another boost, and the event will wrap up at noon Aug. 22 with a closing ceremony that symbolizes the Relay’s goals of “celebrate, remember and fight back,” Cawley said.

Benicia Relay for Life has needed its own boost, Cawley said. It’s experienced some changes of leadership, and it’s re-forming its leadership committee. She is one of its members.

The local Relay also is getting new staff partnerships with the American Cancer Society, she said. Sophia LaRosa, representing the society’s Napa office and a four-year veteran of relays, is taking on responsibility for 10 Northern California relays.

The local relay has 18 teams so far, nearly halfway toward Cawley’s goal of at least 40 entries.

Participants this year include Benicia Police, Benicia Fire Department, Benicia Plumbing, Team Toms, Valero Benicia Refinery, Soroptimist International Benicia, Underground Construction, City of Benicia, the Lawrence Family, S Club of Benicia High School, the Baldwin Family, Alex’s Tech Solutions, Anojah’s Angels, Faith-Hope-Relay, Benicia High School Panther Band, R.K. Salmon Construction Crew, A Hope for a Rose and the Benicia High School Key Club.

Participants are asked to raise at least $100 per person to enter the Relay, and take a pledge to do so when they register. They get a T-shirt as a souvenir of their contributions, Cawley said.

She said she is hoping this year’s event raises $80,000 for the American Cancer Society, which uses the money in its battle against all forms of cancer. Unlike certain cancer walks or other organizations, the Relay for Life isn’t focused on a single type of cancer.

Cawley said the battle against cancer is constant, but there are successes. For many types, she said, “We’re this close” to finding a cure.
Meanwhile, such events as Benicia Relay for Life are important weapons in that fight. “We’ve got to do something,” she said.

Teams and individuals may go online to www.relayforlife.org/beniciaca and register on the website. Those interested also may attend planning committee meetings at 6 p.m. at the Benicia Yacht Club. The next meetings will be July 14 and Aug. 11. T-shirt night will be 5:30 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Benicia Yacht Club, 400 East Second St. People interested in participating in Relay for Life’s planning or in the event itself also may contact Cawley at Leeann.cawley@gmail.com.

Benicia Relay for Life will start at 6 p.m. Aug. 21 at Benicia High School, 1101 Military West.