Klatt, circled around a track for 24 hours. He raised $27,000; more importantly, he raised the consciousness and commitment of a community. The effort spread from person to person, survivor to survivor, caregiver to caregiver, community to community. The result: It’s now a worldwide force where people in more than 5,200 communities and more than 25 countries form a diverse kaleidoscope of faces and stories with one common goal— helping those coping with cancer to stay well and get well by fighting this horrible disease and finding cures. Relay For Life of The Pascack Valley (RFLPV) is one of the largest fundraising groups in the Northeast region, according to Dominique Bournot, 2016 Team Development co-chair. It presently consists of nine towns—Emerson, Hillsdale, Montvale, Old Tappan, Park Ridge, River Vale, Washington Township, Westwood and Woodcliff Lake. Volunteers sign up to raise money year-round through fundraisers—ranging from garage sales to neighborhood block parties—that culminate in an overnight celebration. Last year, the event was
held in PVHS and raised nearly $170,000 with 1,395 participants, 51 teams and 53 cancer survivors in attendance. This year’s event, which officially kicked off in January, promises to be even bigger and better. “At this time, we are over double our funds raised and teams, from the same time last year,” notes River Vale resident Susan Vaccaro, who along with Hillsdale resident Marsha Demarest, is the 2016 Event co-chair of the 29-member RFLPV Committee. (Terrie O’Connor, of Terrie O’Connor Realtors, is the honorary chair.) This year’s goals are to raise $200,000 and have 80 teams, 1,500 participants and 63 cancer survivors, according to Relay organizers. “We’re confident we’ll surpass those numbers,” notes Bournot. "This will be the biggest Relay ever!” adds Demarest. This year’s event will be held at Westwood Regional Jr./Sr. High School on Saturday, May 14, 4 p.m. to Sunday, May 15, 7 a.m. The theme is “Coloring Outside the Lines for a Cure.” Event highlights will consist
Assisted by (from left) Survivor Co-chairs Lisa Iannaccone-Scher and Jodi Stellaci, Zack Latteri cut the 2015 opening ceremony banner as members of the Pascack Valley Class of 2018 team cheered them on.
FOR MORE INFO OR TO VOLUNTEER,
visit www.relayforlife.org/pascackvalleyNJ or contact Susan Vaccaro at scvaccaro@verizon.net or Jennifer Schoonover at jennifer.schoonover@cancer.org Early Spring 2016
35