Volunteers spend day seeking help
DOWNTOWN, SM About 15 miles west of the immigration protests in Downtown Los Angeles, a small group of people were busy fighting another battle in a different downtown.
On a warm and sunny May Day, volunteers with the Relay for Life of Santa Monica were canvassing the Third Street Promenade, going in and out of shops and restaurants to enlist businesses to hang a poster for their upcoming fundraiser.
Relay for Life is an annual 24-hour event to raise awareness about cancer and to raise money for cancer research. Participants split into teams and send different representatives to be present on the track at all times. Each round is dedicated to survivors, caregivers, family members and so forth.
This year’s event will be held from July 28 to 29 at John Adams Middle School.
For about five hours on Tuesday, these volunteers conversed with business owners and managers, trying to raise awareness for their summer relay event, the largest fundraiser hosted by the American Cancer Society. In many cases, these volunteers were unsuccessful as many of the stores along the promenade are owned by corporations and requests to hang posters on the store walls will require permission from the corporate office.
The volunteer’s efforts were part of a nationwide campaign on Tuesday to raise awareness about cancer and the different Relays for Life held in communities across the United States. Called “Paint Our Town Purple,”the national campaign was observed in different ways, with some Relays for Life organizations tying purple ribbons around their neighborhoods, while others, like Santa Monica, promoted the Relay for Life to businesses.
“We’re going to hit as many [businesses] as we can,” said Debora Wright, who launched Relay for Life in Santa Monica six years ago.
Two different sets of volunteers worked two different shifts. Wright and her crew of three volunteers kicked off their efforts at 1 p.m., starting at The Gap and heading north. The second group took over around 3 p.m.
Group one started off with little success, being turned away from The Gap, Sephora, Skechers and Shiva Imports before they had any luck.
Yangtze restaurant would be the first business to put a smile on these volunteers’ faces. The restaurant manager placed a poster for Relay for Life next to the door.
Success would find them again a few doors down at Art One Gallery where owner Glenn Muramoto happily agreed to plaster the poster on the window.
Muramoto is no stranger to helping charitable organizations, having hung posters for Aids Walk L.A. in his window in the past.
“I usually help with anything that’s community related,” Muramoto said.
By the end of the day, both teams had enlisted the help of 11 businesses on Fourth Street and the promenade, including Trastevere, Curves, Crossroads Trading Company, Yankee Doodles, Johnnie’s Pizzeria, and Western Spirit.
It’s about the same number of businesses that helped promote Relay for Life last year by placing a poster on their windows,Wright said.
The volunteers who help with Relay for Life have been affected by cancer in some way, whether they or someone dear to their hearts were diagnosed with cancer.
For Wright, helping to start the Santa Monica chapter of Relay for Life seemed only natural, given what she had gone through with her mother’s death from lymphoma about 20 years ago. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer on her 50th birthday and succumbed to the illness about two years later, at the age of 52.
The president of the local American Cancer Society at the time, Wright started the Relay for Life with the help of former Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts and former SMPD Public Information Officer Lt. Frank Fabrega.
“We put out an event back then that looked like Disneyland,” Wright said.
Today, the event has grown to attract about 500 participants and is one of 57 different Relays for Life hosted by the American Cancer Society in Los Angeles County alone.There are about 286 different relays in California.
Phyllis Segal of West L.A. vividly remembers the moment when she decided that Relay for Life would be an annual event for her.
Segal was diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma about 10 years ago and the cancer was removed in 1997.
On the evening of the 2006 Relay for Life, Segal stepped onto the track to see the entire field lit by a Luminaria ceremony, honoring the victims who have died from cancer. It was such an inspiring ceremony that Segal decided she would never give up on helping to find a cure for cancer.
“I was hooked,” Segal said, carrying pamphlets in one hand and holding a leash for her service dog in the other. Her dog, Pooch, was one of the volunteers on Tuesday, promoting the event by pulling several purple balloons that were tied to his collar.
The “Paint Our Town Purple” campaign was one of several outreach tools employed by the Relay for Life organization. Members of the organization spread its message by attending community events, non-profit fairs, and Chamber of Commerce mixers.
“The event touches home, brings awareness in the community,” said Arthur Spencer, a volunteer. “When you share a story of a loved one or a friend who has succumbed to cancer, people become very much concerned about cancer issues.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 2, 2007. Read the original PDF.