Damascus Relay for Life raises more than $159,000

May 26, 2004

Last weekend's Relay for Life transformed the Damascus High School athletic field into a tent city, as dozens of teams raised money for the American Cancer Society.

The final figures will not be available for months, but the relay had grossed $159,000 by Tuesday, co-chairperson Wendy Lail said.

"We expect even more money to come in," she said. "Money can be handed in until August."

Sixty teams lined the track with campsites from 2 p.m. Saturday to 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Participants walked, skipped, jogged and strolled around the quarter-mile track. Shorts and sunscreen replaced last year's raincoats and umbrellas.

"It's not raining!" Damascus High School sophomore Jamie Herndon said. "It has rained the last three years I've been here."

The relay began with cancer survivors taking a "victory lap" around the track. When Germantown resident Denise Yunger completed her first lap, she pumped her fist in the air to the cheers of the crowd.

"I am strong! I have survived the beast," she exclaimed.

Yunger was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago. She said undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments changed her perspective on life.

"I don't sweat the small stuff," she said, citing traffic and complaining co-workers as examples. "I don't let those little things get to me anymore."

The relay had personal meaning for many participants. Damascus High School sophomore Heather Cunningham described several ways cancer had touched her life.

"My neighbor has cancer, my granddad had cancer, and Ben, our team captain, had cancer -- so today it feels like I'm helping them out," she said.

Her team, the Super Heroes, wore T-shirts that proclaimed they were "protecting the world from cancer." They raised $2,000.

"So many people are affected by it," Diane Hakes of Germantown said.

"Too many," added her friend Sue Suddath of Damascus as they circled the track. Suddath's husband Buddy passed away in December 2001. Their children and grandchildren were members of the Buddy's Angels team.

"I want to see that nobody else has to go through what my family has gone through," Suddath said.

Some teams sold baked goods and trinkets to raise additional money. The High Wire Hunnies team held a plant sale. The Cicada Circus team sold $1 "Cicada Shish Kabobs" made of circus peanuts, Twizzlers and pretzels.

One team demonstrated cancer's impact in a series of displays outside their camp site. The 32 names on The Strutters' "memory lane" recognized family and friends who had died from cancer, while their "honor court" listed 27 survivors.

The 36-member team raised $19,000 this year, compared to about $10,000 last year, co-captain Donna McCarthy of Gaithersburg said. She attributed the increase to more frequent fund-raisers. The team held silent auctions, babysitting nights, restaurant fund-raisers and yard sales.

"I like the way the organizers set this up," McCarthy said. "We've raised our money, and this is the celebration part."

On the athletic field, beach balls, footballs, lacrosse sticks and badminton racquets were plentiful. A train tugged by a tractor entertained young children. Live bands performed on the main stage.

Nickie Ochoa of Germantown, co-chair for the Silver Spring Relay for Life, which will take place June 12-13, attended the Damascus event to lend support. She circled the track in a bright red costume.

"One man wanted to know if I was a tomato, and I said no, I'm a polyp," she said.

Ochoa was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002. She created the costume for last year's Relay for Life, buying the tights from a dance company and adding stuffing to create a plump red polyp. Participants gazed inquisitively at Ochoa's outfit. She said she hoped it made people more aware of colon cancer.

"I had no warning, no symptoms, no nothing," she said.

At nightfall, the mood turned more somber. At a luminaria ceremony, a slideshow displayed photos of parents, spouses, siblings, children and pets who were victims of cancer.

The light of lanterns and glow sticks was dim compared to the glow of hundreds of luminaries that lined the track. Each white bag containing a candle listed the name of a cancer victim. Some participants walked the track slowly, pausing to read each name.

As the luminaries were lit, Damascus High School sophomore Hope Kitterman said she was impressed by the turnout.

"It's cool to see the football field transformed into a place like this," she said. "It really shows how many people care."