The Civilian Marksmanship Program and its volunteer team of participants help set a new regional fundraising record in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in Calhoun County, Alabama in May. The Relay was held at Anniston’s Fort McClellan and the CMP’s Marksmanship Center served as the host of the event’s closing ceremonies.
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CMP staffers helped raise a new record level of donations for Calhoun County at this year’s Relay for Life.
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Calhoun County’s teams raised $500,000 - a new Relay For Life Mid-South Division record. The division’s geographic area includes Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
In addition to the CMP’s contribution of $5,000 as a sponsor, the CMP team raised an additional $2,500, according to CMP Customer Service representative and Relay volunteer Sharron Wautelet.
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Volunteers from left to right, is Matthew Allen, Sly Njoku, Melissa Smith,
Definie Benefield, and Vicki Gardner take a well-earned rest at the CMP tent on the Relay grounds.
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“It was an awesome event,” Wautelet said. “We raised funds by selling Klassic Candles and Krispy Kreme doughnuts, plus we conducted a 4-H Fun Shoot and a yard sale,” she said. CMP also raffled an air rifle that was won by a Relay attendee.
She said she has high hopes to make the 2011 event even bigger by including more participants from the CMP workforce and its customers. Fundraising efforts for 2011 could include a womanless beauty pageant, a barbecue and a bigger fun shoot, Wautelet said.
Calhoun County, Alabama, is the first (and currently, only) event to reach the $500,000 mark in the Mid-South Division states. Part of Calhoun County's success comes from a 27% increase in number of teams, according to the American Cancer Society. They went from 85 teams in 2006 to 108 this year.
Calhoun County has seen an increase in survivor attendance, totaling almost 300 this year, according to the American Cancer Society.
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Thousands of volunteers came out in support of the 2010 Relay for Life in Anniston, Alabama.
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“Starting in January we will start planning ideas to raise money for next year,” Wautelet said. “Each team could be a business, family, school or a church. They can do things throughout the year to raise money up until the big event in May.”
“You can also do things like raffles, contests, crafts, bake sales, food, just whatever you can think of for that evening. They have live entertainment and its inspiring to see the survivor’s children and adults walk that track,” Wautelet said.
“They have the names “in honor of” or “in memory of” with Luminaria bags around the track as they scroll the names on big screen,” she concluded.
An annual May event, Relay for Life began in 1985 when Dr. Gordon Klatt, a colorectal surgeon from Tacoma, Washington, decided he wanted to raise money for the American Cancer Society in honor of his patients. For 24 hours, Dr. Klatt walked around the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.
Throughout the night, friends paid $25 to run or walk 30 minutes with him. He walked approximately 83 miles and raised $27,000 to fight cancer. Nearly 300 of Dr. Klatt's friends, family, and patients watched as he ran and walked the course. After this successful event, Dr. Klatt thought about how other people could partake in a similar 24-hour event in communities across the country.
Now, almost four million people take part in Relay events in over 5,000 communities in the United States.
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Brooke Mann, American Cancer Society Relay Coordinator, presents the trophy to Oxford High School representatives for raising $61,000 as the highest team total in the Calhoun County, Alabama Relay for Life event in May. The presentation was made at the CMP Anniston Competition Center.
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