It’s feeling like spring, and Relay for Life is back!

Relay for Life is only a few months away and I thought I would remind everyone that cancer is still around and we need to kick it in the rear! How can we do that, you ask?

The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is one of the best ways to raise awareness and money to help get rid of cancer. Relay for Life has many ways to participate. One of the best ways is to join a team that participates in this annual August event. Once you have joined a team, the team will do cool fundraisers. Over the last few years, I have seen amazing fundraisers here in Freeborn County.

We have bracelets that are sold, wine tastings, lunches, car washes, potlucks and silent and live auctions. We here at the Tribune have had taco lunches, root beer floats and auctions to raise money. I personally had my head shaved two years ago because we had over 60 teams.

Joining teams is a good way to help the Relay for Life cause, but not the only way. Helping with donating food, money and time is another good way to help. This year’s chairwomen are Kim Nelson, 383-3637, and Jenny Habana, 383-4582. These two spirited ladies can help point you in the right direction to help out.

So have you thought about starting a team yet? Well, start thinking, because the kickoff is May 17 and team registration is July 12.

I think it would be awesome to have 70 teams this year and let cancer know that we are not playing around! Have you thought of a cool fundraiser? Let’s see who can have the coolest fundraiser this year!

The people who make up the Relay for Life team are some of the best people you will ever meet, and I will make sure that we are putting updates in the paper to alert you to what will be happening with the event.

If you think donating your time and money are hard to do, try fighting cancer. I have seen it firsthand, and I am sure you have as well. It does not take much to get motivated when you talk to a survivor or listen to someone who has lost a loved one to this nasty disease.

I promise you that the night of the Relay for Life will touch your heart and make you a better person just by being there. So what the heck are you waiting forget a team or an idea of how you will help and let’s get cracking!

Go Relay for Life!

Now online

Check out the new link on our Web site that goes right to Ahlahasa’s Web site. We love that the Ahlahasa has such a great group of young adults willing to share their thoughts and creativeness with us. The Ahlahasa is the Albert Lea High School’s newspaper, and if you have never checked it out, please do as you will be impressed.

Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer’s column appears every Thursday.