November 19, 2013

MHC hosted its first Relay for Life event last week with 91 college employees, students, athletes and community members coming together for the inaugural event. Over $7,300 was raised to support cancer research done through the Canadian Cancer Society, who celebrated its 75^th anniversary in 2013.

Participants walked the halls of MHC on Thursday evening to support those currently living with cancer and to remember friends and family members whose journeys have come to an end.  The first lap of the Relay began with college employees and cancer survivors, Erin Penzes and Linda Martin, leading the way in bright yellow T-shirts.  

The event included Celebrate, Remember and Fight Back ceremonies, each with their own guest speakers and entertainment.  MHC education student, Kimara White, represented cancer survivors at the Celebrate ceremony and spoke on a very personal level about her own journey with the disease. The Remember ceremony included lighting of luminaries to remember loved ones lost to cancer and a pause to think of those affected by the disease.  The Fight Back portion of the evening was intended to give participants strength to move forward and create the change that is needed to battle cancer.

At the final ceremony, the beards came off as Clint Lawrence, Stuart Riley and Keith Walker shaved their beards to honour the challenge they made if the event reached 75 participants.

“Amid music and cheers and paparazzi, the whiskers flew,” said Anne Baxter, a member of the event planning committee. “Although this event brought us together for a solemn cause, it created much laughter, fun and fellowship along the route.”

Congratulations to the Campus Life Team for raising the most money (per person) and winning the Relay for Life trophy, Daphne the Daffodil. The Campus Life team was led by Keith Walker and included Pam Hole, Carla Bennett, Emma Bennett, Abby Bennet, Linda Martin, Patrice Gardner and Christie Lewis.

For images from the Relay for Life visit MHC's Flickr page.

Media contact:

Kendra Borgen
Media Officer
Medicine Hat College
Direct: 403.504.3643
Email:  kborgen@mhc.ab.ca