Survivor Celebration -- any ideas?

newboobs

Hey guys, long time, no post! I'm so glad to see that the discussion board is active!

I need some creative input, please. I am serving on a committee for our local hospital, helping to plan a big Survivor Day celebration. I know some of you have these events in your communities. Would you mind telling me what works/what doesn't work? My email is newboobs77@yahoo.com.

Thanks bunches! Hugs.

susie09

Contact the ACS. They have
Contact the ACS. They have all kinds of ideas that they use and offer for the Relay for Life.

Good luck!

chenheart

Yeah, if you have never
Yeah, if you have never participated in a Relay For Life celebration, they have fabulous ideas! HAHAHAHAHA!! Sorry, K~ I couldn't help it! Do you remember me telling you that we had river rocks in baskets, with Hope, Faith, Survivor, etc written on them with permanent marker? We could pick one up from the basket and keep them~ that was nice!
In the survivors tent, as we walked in, we also put our names and length of survivorship on pre-cut paper~ eventually paper chains were made from them and hung about the event. Writing wishes, hopes and dreams on balloons which are released to the heavens is a meaningful part of the day, as well.

I have been meaning to write you K~ for numerous reasons. I got an email from Lana; did she tell you that when I was visiting Sassy in June we actually got to speak on the phone for the first time? I also need to send you a hug for your friends' son...((((HUG))))
And, of course I thought of you cuz Peter Frampton will be playing at the casino next month! I'll save you a seat! :-)

Ok Kindred Spirits, if you haven't figured it out yet, Newboobs and I know each other~ she is one sweet soul who helped me when I was first diagnosed! We BOTH joined CSN in April of 2003! Newboobs is the one who taught me to drink water during treatment! She kept me sane and fearless during some pretty dark days. And we have actually met in person~ her sweet hubby,along with me and my Reggie spent some quality hours laughing!!

I will send you a "proper" email New...love you!

Hugs,
Chen<3

fauxma

I went to a Relay and they
I went to a Relay and they took poloroid pictures (you could do digital with a portable printer) and put them on big paper flowers with stems. These were put into the ground at the Relay. It was the survivor's garden. If this is an indoor event you could substitute styrofoam painted green and create the same effect. Another Relay I went to had all the survivor's dip their hands in fingerpaint and put their hand print on paper with their name, cancer, and how long they were survivors. These were taped together in a giant paper quilt. There were lots of colors of paint to choose from so it was really pretty and someone had painted pretty borders around each piece of paper beforehand so it had a lovely effect. Another year an event did this same with fabric paint and cloth. It was later sewn into a real quilt. You could have candy stations with each station featuring a cancer ribbon color. Like a pink cotton candy machine for breast etc. Or just use jelly bellys in dishes the same way.
On a different note, we had a wonderful group of 6 ladies that for several years hosted a huge(80+ people) bunco afternoon to raise money for their Relay for Life team. They charged $20 per person and got great prizes donated for game prizes. The hall was donated. The food they got donated. And they had probably 20 or more gift baskets that were raffled off (all donated). The raffle tickets were $1. each and 6 for $5. Between the buy in for bunco, the raffle and the cash donations that people gave at the door, they raised between $3000 and $4000 each year. They served a great lunch. It began at 10 am and went until late in the afternoon. It was a lot of work for them and took a lot of planning but it was a great fundraiser. They took each table of four players and used the different awareness colors and had a placecard with the type of cancer, warning signs etc. written on it. The tables were all placed side by side and formed a giant line. The head table was purple and had the Relay for Life information on its placecard. They had information from the ACS available. And during the lunch break they had a survivor tell their story. They asked all the survivors to stand. Then they asked all the caregivers to stand and join them. Then they asked anyone who knew anyone who had cancer (friend, family, coworkers etc) to stand also. At that point they asked everyone to look around and there was not one person seated. At that point, they said that cancer is something that touches every life in some form and that was why we all Relay for the Cure. It was put into better words than I just used and it was so touching. That is something you might use at your survivor event.
Hope these helped and I know that there are many other ideas out there.
Stef

newboobs

Thanks
Thanks guys! I've helped create a new Rotary Club here in our town and we're planning a night of comedy, Comedy4ACure. Will keep you updated on that event also.

Thanks for the ideas!!

K

DianeBC

newboobs said:

Thanks
Thanks guys! I've helped create a new Rotary Club here in our town and we're planning a night of comedy, Comedy4ACure. Will keep you updated on that event also.

Thanks for the ideas!!

K

Good luck to you. I do know
Good luck to you. I do know that ACS has all kinds of ideas and they know what previous survivors have planned before, so, they are always a good source.

Hugs, Diane ♥

Alexis F

newboobs said:

Thanks
Thanks guys! I've helped create a new Rotary Club here in our town and we're planning a night of comedy, Comedy4ACure. Will keep you updated on that event also.

Thanks for the ideas!!

K

That sounds like a fun
That sounds like a fun night!

Thanks for doing this for the bc survivors!

I hope it is a huge success!


Hugs ♥Lex♥