Rockwall Relay for Life, April 27-28
(Rockwall) Mindy Brence is the kind of person you immediately want to have as your best friend. Vivacious and full of fun, this year’s Relay For Life co-chair is enthusiastic about reaching their stretch goal of $150,000.
“I think Carla Brooks, my Relay co-chair, thought I was crazy, but I believe it is do-able. We already have 29 teams and have raised $4,500 — $1,500 online and a donation of $3,000 from Williams Middle School,” Mindy said.
Mindy’s passion for the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event comes from having the experience of seeing close friends and family members endure treatments to rid them of the disease.
“My father had bladder cancer 12 years ago, my mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor, and my father-in-law survived rectal cancer,” Mindy relates. “And six years ago, my 42-year-old coworker and friend was diagnosed with a sarcoma tumor in her abdomen which was the size of a football. She’s a single mom who has to continue to battle this cancer, because the really bad thing about sarcoma is that they don’t know much about it.”
Her co-worker has had many surgeries and chemotherapy treatments to try to obliterate the cancer, but it keeps returning in different locations on her body. During her most recent surgery, her doctor will have to go in through her back to deflate her lung in order to remove the cancer. Amazingly, she has been able to keep a positive attitude even though she knows she will have this condition for the rest of her life unless they find a cure.”
Although Mindy is deadly serious about raising money, she is all giggles when discussing Relay night.
“I am not shameful. I’ll do anything!” she laughs.
Since Relay For Life lasts from sundown Friday night to sunrise Saturday morning, there is entertainment every minute to keep participants awake and having fun.
She always looks forward to the Miss-ter Relay contest where males dress as females and parade around the track with their purses to collect donations. Her team, the Soroptomists International, of which she is the reigning president, always has a couple of men who are willing to don a dress for a good cause.
“I also love Fruit Croquet,” she laughs. The game requires the participant to tie a pair of woman’s pantyhose with a grapefruit dangling from one of the toes around his waist and to use it as a mallet to hit an apple.
Spaghetti Hair is another late-night activity with hilarious results when pieces of raw spaghetti are inserted into a participant’s hair, which results in some rather large manes. The Frozen T-Shirt Game is another competition which is not for the faint-hearted. A t-shirt is knotted, placed in a baggie filled with water which is then frozen. Contestants must break the shirt out of its ice prison, unknot it, and put it on.
The Soroptomists are active participants in Relay and love all the games. But they are also very serious about raising money to fight the disease.
“We lost 2 of our members to cancer in the past few years. Pat died three years ago on Relay night, and Chris lost her battle with breast cancer last year,” Mindy states. Cancer research has provided many life-saving treatments and is improving the lives of those battling cancer, but it’s not fast enough to save all our loved ones.
Mindy asserts, “The most important thing about Relay For Life is to have the opportunity to raise funds to expand cancer research, so that one day we can live in a world that is cancer-free. The most amazing thing is to realize the endless number of cancers and the different treatments that exist. We are now reaching out to schools to encourage children to get involved in Relay. We need to help them understand cancer. Parents try to shield their children from the harsh reality of the disease, so many of our youth don’t really understand what it means. They don’t understand that their parent would much rather be at their football game or dance recital than being in bed after undergoing chemotherapy.”
Each year the American Cancer Society holds a Relay For Life Summit for the chairmen of the event. Mindy attended this year and was touched by the story of the man who was undergoing cancer treatment. He explained that his course of therapy was found through research that was conducted15 years ago.
“So I may be raising money now that may save my life sometime in the future,” Mindy realized.
For those who have never experienced Relay For Life, Mindy encourages them to come out to Cain Middle School in Rockwall at 7 p.m. Friday, April 27th.
“Don’t worry about raising a lot of money the first year. Just come out and watch the Hope Ceremony. See the luminarias lining the track. Listen to the survivors. Be a spectator. You’ll be hooked, line-and-sinker,” she promises.
For more information, visit relayforlife.org/rockwalltx.
Written and submitted by Mary Thacker; edited for publication by Blue Ribbon News, all rights reserved.
To submit your news and events, email editor@BlueRibbonNews.com.
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