Walkers, participants needed for cancer event
In its second year in Santa Monica, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life is set to surpass last year’s fundraising goal and participation.
The team event, which begins this Saturday at 9 a.m. and runs continuously until 9 a.m. on Sunday at Santa Monica College’s Corsair track, will raise tens of thousands of dollars for the fight against cancer.
The Relay for Life is a 24-hour community event to increase cancer awareness while raising much-needed funds for the American Cancer Society. Teams are made up of at least 10 to 20 people who will walk or run around the SMC track in shifts.
This year’s fundraising goal is to exceed $100,000 and organizers say they still have a ways to go in obtaining it. However, there are more teams this year — about 45 — which should bring in more money and people can donate throughout the weekend.
Last year, the event, which had 30 teams, doubled its goal of $30,000 by raising $63,000. The Santa Monica Police Department was the largest contributor, raising $23,000.
The event is not only to raise money to fight cancer, but also to remember loved ones who lost their battle to the disease and celebrate the lives of those who have survived.
There will be dozens of cancer survivors — representing all forms of cancer — walking the opening lap on Saturday morning.
One of them will be SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega, who helped organize the event last year not because of a personal experience with the disease, but because of SMPD Chief James T. Butts Jr.’s heavy involvement with the American Cancer Society.
“We were very active in the process from day one,” Fabrega said. “The chief is on the executive board of the American Cancer Society.”
But this year, the event is personal for Fabrega. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in May.
Fabrega, 49, was told he had cancer after his annual physical exam which is required by the City of Santa Monica.
“The initial shock was, ‘I’m a healthy guy, I run marathons and I eat the right foods,’” he said.
Fabrega said after the biopsy came back positive for cancer, he went home, jumped on the Internet and looked up the American Cancer Society Web site to learn more about his disease.
“I realized that everything I did last year (for Relay for Life) I helped put on that page,” he said. “I do have more of a personal involvement because I truly know that what we raise in Santa Monica will help others and the money raised goes to education, advocacy and research. I touched all of those areas with my bout with cancer.”
When he told his family — sons Michael, 18, and Danny, 16, and his wife Anita — that he had cancer they were as shocked as he was.
“They were very surprised,” Fabrega said. “I didn’t look sick and I didn’t have any symptoms.”
“Without the chief’s support, my mental attitude would not have been the same,” — he said
Fabrega was referred to Dr. Gary Lieskovsky, a prostate cancer specialist at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital in Boyle Heights, one of the best cancer centers in the nation.
There, Fabrega underwent a five-hour surgery on June 2, about three weeks after he was first diagnosed. Dr. Lieskovsky couldn’t guarantee that the procedure would remove all of the cancer. But Fabrega remained hopeful.
“I was confident (that the cancer would be gone) but my biggest fear was dying on the table,” Fabrega said, adding that he had never been a patient in a hospital before.
The surgery was successful and less than two days later, Fabrega was out of the hospital and back in his Thousand Oaks home recovering.
Within two weeks, he was walking six miles a day and 10 miles a day a few weeks later.
“I told myself that my physical fitness was going to carry me through this,” Fabrega said. “It was my mental attitude too. I said I would not let myself be beaten by this.”
Now he runs three miles a day. Fabrega, a public information officer for the SMPD, was back at work on July 7. A week later, the farmer’s market accident happened, which tested Fabrega’s endurance.
“When I got back to work, I was 95 percent,” he said. “Then the market accident happened and I worked close to 17 hours that day dealing with the media and it was a personal test for me. After I did that, I was sure I was at 100 percent.”
When Relay for Life organizers contacted the police department about possibly bringing the event to Santa Monica last year, Chief Butts jumped at the chance to get his department involved.
“He felt it was a wonderful opportunity for the police department since we are community-based,” Fabrega said, adding that his quick recovery had a lot to do with the fact that he had the support he needed.
Participants — walkers and volunteers — are still needed for this weekend’s event. Anyone who is interested in participating can show up any time over the weekend at the SMC track and register. There will be plenty of live music, entertainment and food. People are welcome to join teams that are short on people.
Cancer survivors from throughout the community are invited to walk in the celebration of life, while the rest of the participants cheer them on.
The most emotional part of the event is the luminary ceremony, which honors survivors and remembers those who have died from the disease. At 9 p.m., white bags line the track that are filled with white sand and a candle. Each one is dedicated to a person touched by cancer and is lit during a special ceremony. The candles burn throughout the night, lighting the way for walkers.
People can still purchase a luminary in “honor” of someone who is battling cancer, or has survived cancer, or in memory of someone who lost his or her battle with cancer. You do not need to be present or a participant in the relay to take part in the ceremony. Donations for the luminary bags are $10 each. They also will be available the day of the event for $10 each.
Team participants will camp out throughout the night while enjoying music and entertainment, as well as building a team spirit and raising money.
Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society’s national signature event. It is held in 3,000 communities across the country and raises more than $200 million nationwide. The money from the events account for 25 percent of the American Cancer Society’s annual income.
More than 1.5 million people participate in Relay for Life, which is the largest nonprofit fundraising event in the world, according to the American Cancer Society.
Santa Monica College is located at 1900 Pico Boulevard. Donations to the American Cancer Society can be sent to: The American Cancer Society, attention SM Relay for Life, 5731 West Slauson Ave., Suite 200, Culver City, Calif., 90230.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 25, 2003. Read the original PDF.