Few other endeavors have proven as successful as the Freeborn County Relay for Life event, held last Friday and Saturday.

Its success can be found in the numbers:

– About 32 teams participated this year

– 3,300 luminaries lined the walkway and other areas of the Relay

– The $50,000 goal was surpassed by $22,000 even though the event just concluded its second year.

That tells us a couple things &045; this is a winning fund raiser for cancer research and services, and a lot of dedicated people participated at some level of planning or participation.

As co-chairperson Jenny Habana said, &uot;It’s just amazing.&uot;

Typically, fund raisers will increase their goal each year by a couple thousand dollars &045; Freeborn County Relay for Life increased their goal from last year’s $37,000 total to $50,000 this year, and raised a total of nearly $72,000 for the American Cancer Society.

That’s unheard of in the fundraising world. But it shouldn’t be surprising &045; this area has quite a number of generous souls who think nothing of dipping into their purses and wallets to help others. Perhaps more telling is that so many have been touched in some way by cancer.

Though cancer leaves scars on our hearts, there is always the hope for a cure, and the Relay event brings together a great many people who share in that hope.

Our hats are off to everyone who helped plan or participated in this year’s relay.