There’s one big change coming for this year’s White Rock/South Surrey Relay for Life – it will be during daylight hours.
This year’s event, hosted annually by the Canadian Cancer Society in communities across the country, is set for Saturday, June 13, from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.
In previous years, the 12-hour cancer fundraiser grew in popularity in part because of it’s unusual hours – it used to run overnight. Last year’s event in White Rock – held at Centennial Park – drew 250 participants and raised $80,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.
But while the late-night relay was also a fun aspect of the event, it is hoped the change to daytime hours will draw out even more people to get involved.
“The night is always fun, but the daytime is very appealing,” said Jenn Schroeder, community giving co-ordinator for the Canadian Cancer Society’s BC/Yukeon division.
“It’s tough for some people and families to do the nighttime thing, especially families with young kids, so hopefully this change will give more people a chance to come out and take part in our event.”
Not all communities have switched its Relay for Life events to the new hours, Schroeder said. Langley, for example, will keep its dusk-til-dawn schedule.
It has been left up to organizers in each community to decide what they would like to do, she said.
“(Last year) we had a few select communities within BC/Yukon that did daytime, and this year it was opened up so we could do what would work best in each community.”
Also new for the Canadian Cancer Society this year is the Daffodil Dash, a one-km walk and five-km run event set for Vancouver’s Creekside Park (near Science World) on April 26.
For information on White Rock’s Relay for Life – or to register with a special early-bird rate – visit www.relayforlife.ca/whiterock
For more on the Daffodil Dash, go to www.cancer.ca and follow the links to the events page.