Team members take steps due to personal loss

When Mie Boyd was in sixth grade she lost her friend Tony to cancer, as an adult she helped her friends grandmother as she died from cancer.

These life altering experiences are what catapulted her to action with Relay for Life.

"I've seen first hand how it affects not only the people with cancer but those who are left behind," she said.

Boyd has been the online chairperson for two years and helps teams to reach their goals with the aid of the fundraising site.

She hasn't always been active in the cause but said when she moved to Morris five years ago she wanted a way to meet people and do something worth while at the same time.

"I am passionate about finding a cure," she said. "It really hit home as I helped my friends grandma."

She said like many people she was unaware Relay for Life existed.

"I think about Tony and Margaret who passed as I participate," she said.

She said she remembers how Tony always made people laugh.

"He was so full of life," she said. "At one point he pulled off his wig to make people laugh, I really miss him."

Boyd's Pirates of the Cure-a-being team mate and co-captain Peter Hammond knows how it feels to reflect back during Relay.

Hammond said he too has been hit by cancer close to home.

"I started walking in remembrance of my soul mate of 15 years, Willa Nelson who died of breast cancer," Hammond said. "This year I'm also walking in honor of my dad."

It was just over a year ago when his father, Charles Hammond of Morris died from liver cancer.

"Walking in the Relay is rather spiritual," he said. "In ways it's uplifting but also allows you reflection."

Hammond met Nelson as work at the West Side VA Hospital in Chicago where she was a nursing assistant and he is a cardiology tech.

He said the walk is therapeutic knowing it has touched the lives of everyone in one way shape or form.

He hopes the money raised from the walk will help the organization to realize realistic further research.

"I hope a cure can be found through the additional research," he said. "I hope it does good somewhere."

Together the two along with their team hope to reflect on those they love while furthering the research to keep someone else from knowing the pain.

Boyd said as online chairperson she maintains the website as well as participates in meetings and emails reminders.

"Online donation is an easier way to ask friends who don't live here to donate," she said. "I have friends in Vegas and Florida, this makes it easier."

This year marks the beginning the celebration of 25 years of Relay For Life.

According to their website more than 3.5 million people across the country will come to a Relay event to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that takes too much from too many families.

The funds raised at the American Cancer Society Relay For Life saves lives by funding cutting-edge research, early detection and prevention education, and a suite of free information, programs and services to help people who have cancer.

For more information or to donate to local teams you may log on to www.relayforlifegrundy.com