THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603260147
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Around Town
SOURCE: Linda McNatt
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Nobody can say that Lois Little is shy.
She wasn't, at least, when she saw TV personality Terry Zahn at an American Cancer Society fund-raising workshop held at Wintergreen earlier this year.
Little walked right up and asked Zahn to appear at Isle of Wight County's breakfast to kick off the local effort.
He followed through with that promise at Smithfield Station last week, and his enthusiasm for the worthy cause seemed to filter quickly through the small crowd of supporters gathered there.
Two years ago, Little explained, Isle of Wight started hosting one of the Cancer Society's most popular events, the Relay for Life. It was successful from the beginning.
Almost 70 people participated, and the event raised $6,000 for the Isle of Wight/Surry Cancer Society. The next year, about 80 people participated, and $13,200 was raised.
This year, the 12-hour event will be held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at Smithfield High School. Little, the event's co-chairman, said she would like to see at least $15,000 raised this year.
But John Brown, president of the local chapter of the Cancer Society, has a loftier goal. Brown said he thinks this caring community can raise at least $20,000 to help fight the disease that touches so many.
Zahn apparently is one of the charity's biggest supporters. He first got involved, he told us, about five years ago. At the time, he and a group of walkers armed with pledges of support walked around the parking lot of Chesapeake General Hospital.
Zahn said he has seen that event grow from raising $7,000 that first year to raising $170,000 last year.
``This is something very close to my heart,'' Zahn said. ``My mother is a cancer survivor. It's the spirit of the Relay, I think. I've never gotten quite so involved in anything.''
Zahn said, if you go to one of these events knowing nobody, you leave knowing everybody on a first-name basis.
``I like to call it Woodstock without the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll,'' he said. ``People keep coming back because it's such a neat experience. It's just magic.''
For the local Relay this year, Little and Brown are looking for team captains to recruit five to 10 team members to walk, run or ride around the Smithfield High School football field. That's what makes it easy. You're not obligated to move on your own, and the burden of getting around the field is spread across the team.
Locals gathered at the kickoff breakfast told about holding garage sales and bake sales, or simply saving pennies, to boost their team's contribution.
In addition, at 8:30 p.m. on the night of the event, there will be a luminary ceremony to light the field with candles in memory of someone who has died of cancer or in honor of a survivor. Donations for this service begin at $10, and funds raised by the teams can be added to the team contribution.
In a video Zahn has produced about the Relay, individuals he talked with about putting some meaning into what they do said that participating for a special individual makes the difference. Certainly, there are few of us who don't know someone who has either lost the fight to cancer or won the battle. You can walk to remember or walk to celebrate.
Cancer survivors, especially, are invited to the event. You will be honored at opening ceremonies and asked to take the first honorary lap. Remember, you can walk, run or ride. And nobody has said anything about what you ride.
The main thing the event needs now is participants and supporters. A fun way of organizing a team is to do it at your place of work, your church or your civic organization.
If every civic organization in this county had just one team, the goal could be met with ease. And here's a special challenge from Brown, the president.
For the past two years, he said, he has seen most of the Relay support from the northern end of the county. That's understandable, since it's held at Smithfield High School. But Brown knows - and he's right - that folks in the southern end of this county know just as well what a dreaded disease cancer is. Let them now - citizens of Windsor, Carrsville, Walters, Orbit - join the fight.
``This is for everyone,'' Brown said.
Last year, the total contribution in this county amounted to 46 cents per citizen. That put Isle of Wight at No. 10 in the state. There's room at the top.
Team captains, start your engines. Begin preparing now to participate in Relay for Life. Who knows? Maybe next year, even you can have breakfast with Terry Zahn.
For more information, call Little at 357-2206 or Audrey Christensen at 357-9526. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
Television personality Terry Zahn poses with Lois Little at the
cancer society's breakfast to kick off fund-raising.
by CNB