PORT TOWNSEND — About 400 people turned out to Blue Heron Middle School this weekend to combat cancer by walking in the fourth annual Port Townsend Relay for Life.
The relay began at 6 p.m. Friday, and participants walked through the night until the event’s conclusion 24 hours later.
Twenty-five teams of local businesses and organizations — and one team composed of friends and neighbors named “Odds and Ends” — helped to raise a preliminary amount of $62,051 to go to the American Cancer Society for cancer research.
Organizers, who expect donations to trickle in through the end of August, said much of the money will stay in Jefferson County.
Last year, about $104,000 was raised from the relay, and organizers are hopeful that figure will be in view come next month.
“No matter how much we raise, what we make might fund a research project that finds a breakthrough,” said Deborah Raney, chair of the Relay for Life.
Firefighters assist
The relay was kicked off Friday night by Port Townsend firefighters cruising through town on a fire engine collecting donations in their boots from people on the street.
The engine then paraded to Blue Heron Middle School, where the first lap of the relay was walked by cancer survivors.
Participants gathered themselves and spelled out the word “HOPE” with their bodies, and a firefighter climbed the engine’s ladder to take a picture of the assembled bodies spelling the word that represented the walkers’ efforts.
Each of the four years Port Townsend has hosted the local version of the worldwide event, a theme is chosen.
This year’s was Hawaiian, so flowered shirts and plenty of leis could be seen circling the track.
