By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Ellis County Relay for Life has been canceled this year as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.
The American Cancer Society informed local chapters to not have in-person events through at least June as many of the participants are cancer survivors and have comprised immune systems, said volunteer Mary Ann Randa.
The Ellis County event is typically scheduled for the first Friday of June, but will likely not be rescheduled this year.
The Ellis County Relay for Life organization also had to cancel its annual Egg Your House fundraiser, which was scheduled around Easter.
The group's annual golf tournament has been rescheduled to Saturday, June 19 at the Fort Hays Municipal Golf Course in Hays.
Cost is $80 per player for a four-person scramble. T-shirts and lunch will be provided. Registration will be at 8 a.m., and a shotgun start will be at 9 a.m. Golf cart cost is $40 each.
You can see more information on the Ellis County Relay for Life Facebook page.
Ellis County Relay for Life raises about $23,000 annually for the American Cancer Society. About half of the money raised comes from the golf tournament and a raffle, which the group was able to conduct in March.
The rest comes from the events that were canceled this year — the egg fundraiser and Relay for Life. Most of the Relay money raised comes from the sale of luminaries.
The American Cancer Society uses the funds to support Hope Lodge, a housing complex in Kansas City where patients can stay while they are undergoing treatment. The cancer society also provides assistance to patients who have to travel out of state for care.
Funds also support the purchase of wigs, dietary supplements and research.
The University of Kansas Health System receives about $5 million per year from the American Cancer Society for research, Randa said.
Randa said she was concerned about the American Cancer Society's ability to continue to provide support services as fundraising events are canceled.
She urged those who usually donate to Relay for Life to continue to donate to the group this year despite the cancellation of events.
"We are still asking for donations, but their availability with everybody laid off is pretty scarce," she said. "They just don't know."
You can send checks to Ellis County Relay for Life, PO Box 2, Hays, KS 67601. You can also donate directly on the group's website.
Although the loss of the funding is significant, the loss of the event itself is also a blow.
"It is actually part of the healing process," said Randa, who lost her mother, brother and two co-workers to cancer, "not just for the cancer patients but for their loved ones and caregivers who stood by those who have had to suffer through all of that."
The Relay is an opportunity to acknowledge the sacrifice those who lost their battle to cancer made, Randa said.
"You may have lost someone, but someone else may have a better chance of surviving," Randa said.
She added, "Because of them, the treatments are so much better and so much more tolerable because they learned from prior patients."