FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4/30/98

CONTACT:
Robyn Florian
Assistant Director of Public Relations
Greenville College
(618) 664-2800, ext. 4536

GREENVILLE, IL – When cancer touches one, it touches a community. And the community responds …

What can we do with our grief, our fears, and our despair when the debilitating affects of cancer touch our friends and family? For one 18-hour period we will walk with them, we will run with them, and we will party with them in an effort to raise money for a cure … in memory of the victims, in honor of the survivors, and in hope for the fighters.

Bond County will kickoff their inaugural "Relay for Life" efforts at a reception scheduled for Saturday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Greenville College Armington Center. Preparing to hit the track September 24-25, event committee members will educate reception participants on the event and the disease, with the desire to engage community involvement to fund the cure.

Kickoff Program
The event will include a kickoff welcome by Dr. Robert "Ish" Smith, event co-chairperson; a cancer update from Dr. Kendall Stephens; an introductory video about Relay for Life, the signature event of the American Cancer society; and reflections from Mrs. Ellen Mannoia, first lady of Greenville College and event committee member, and Matthew Sewell, a Greenville College junior and business management major, on their personal battles with this disease.

Mannoia, an 11-year survivor of breast cancer, recently learned the cancer has recurred and transferred to her bone. Currently undergoing hormone therapy treatment, her story will educate listeners on one fighter’s struggles and disappointments coupled with a strong will to survive and deep faith in God.

Sewell was diagnosed in December 1997 with Hogkin’s disease and underwent chemotherapy and radiation throughout the spring and summer months of 1998. He is currently in remission and returned to classes at Greenville this past fall.

Throughout the evening participants will have opportunity to register Relay teams, meet with survivors, and obtain informational materials on both the disease and the event.

For more information on the kickoff reception and other upcoming Relay for Life events, contact Randy Alderman, co-chair for Bond County, at (618) 664-2200.

Relay for Life … "it’s about being a community that takes up the fight …"

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