Relay For Life of the Moshannon Valley kicked off its Nov. 7 meeting with a ?Where the money goes? Mission Moment in the hopes of providing donors a better understanding of how their dollars benefit cancer patients in the Moshannon Valley area.
?We?ve heard more than once that the money we raise only benefits research efforts and doesn?t benefit the people in our neighborhoods battling cancer. That?s simply not the case, so one of our goals the past two years has been to do a better job promoting programs that benefit people locally,? said Tim Nebgen, chairperson for the Event Leadership Team for 2018.
While the American Cancer Society is the largest not-for-profit benefactor of cancer research, it also employs cancer information specialists whose sole purpose is to provide information on the services available to cancer patients and caregivers.
They assist patients in obtaining rides to scheduled treatments and offer counseling on the side effects of treatment. Counseling is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year via e-mail, online chat rooms and by calling 1-800-227-2345.
Money donated to Relay For Life also helps provide newly-diagnosed patients with personalized information kits, wigs for patients undergoing treatment, rides to and from treatment and follow-up appointments and many other services.
Additional information on those resources is available online at www.cancer.org by navigating to the treatment and support tab.
Discussion then turned to upcoming fundraisers. The Angels Among Us team will be hosting a pong tournament at the Redwood Inn in Lecontes Mills Nov. 18.
Registration is $5 per person for a four-person team. Registration begins at 3 p.m. with the tournament running from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. Angels Among Us will also host at craft night at Primitive Me in Clearfield Nov. 30.
Participants will craft a days until Christmas snowman and enjoy light snacks and drinks. Registration is $25 per person.
The True Value team will host the first of its two bake sales Nov. 18 at True Value in Philipsburg. The sale begins at 8:30 a.m. and will continue until 4 p.m. or until they are sold out.
The True Value team is also selling Scotty?s doughnut holes at $4 per bag for a Dec. 7 delivery. Flavors include chocolate, blueberry, cherry, powdered, cinnamon and glazed.
Anyone interested in these fundraisers may contact Tim Nebgen at 814-339-6292, 814-592-8823 or tmnebgen@verizon.net. He will put you in touch with the team captains.
Vacancies on the Event Leadership Team were also discussed. A chair for the opening/closing ceremonies, registration, logistics and team ambassador committees are all in need of a chairperson.
At present, there are four teams registered for the event. Anyone interested in registering a team or registering as an individual may do so by visiting here.