Relay For Life of Carthage
NEWS FLASH
December 2008 - Number 2

2008 Relay Wrap Up Notes: Congratulations to Columbian School Student Council Team!
The 2008 Relay Wrap Up meeting was held last month.  Columbian School’s Student Council members received the top fundraising team award.  The Student Council team raised $5,292.43 and students were given Gold level fundraising recognition lapel pins as well as receiving a Certificate of Merit to display at their school.  Sponsors for the team were Gloria Lawrence and Meghan Frischenmeyer.  Joette Blades, Community Manager-Development from the American Cancer Society said “Our cancer patients’ lives are blessed by everyone that worked so hard to make the 2008 Carthage Relay such a success.  The students from Columbian are a true example of the difference that young people can make in our community.  All of us at the American Cancer Society are so proud of them!”

Silver level fundraising awards were given to Southwest Missouri Bank, Leggett & Platt Hope, Leggett & Platt Chuck Wagon Gang and the Leggett & Platt Hitchin’ Post teams.  Bronze level fundraising recognitions were awarded to Hometown Bank, Leggett & Platt Machine Products, Fairview School Outlaws and UMB Bank teams.  “We appreciate all the support we received from each of the teams, as well as from our sponsors,” said Tracy Ackerman, event chair.  “We are especially grateful to the many volunteers and their families for all of their hard work to make this event happen.”

We also want to recognize and thank our wonderful sponsors for the 2008 Relay.  Our Diamond level sponsors were Grace Energy Corp., Dr. Michael R. LaFerla and Wal-mart.  Gold level sponsors were M&M Wrecker Service, Butterball LLC, Hometown Bank, Dr. Wayne and Miriam Putnam and Windsor Foods.  Silver level sponsors were McCune-Brooks Hospital, Powell’s Truck and Auto Repair, Keith Hulfeld, D.D.S., Southwest Missouri Bank and Schreiber Foods.  Bronze level sponsors were Ott Food Products and Cornerstone Dental Group.  We also want to thank Bordertown for sponsoring an ad on the Relay website.  When you visit the place of business of each of these sponsors, please thank them for supporting the Relay For Life of Carthage!

Results from Carthage Christmas Parade
We want to thank everyone who came out to help at the Carthage Christmas Parade on December 1.  We only had a handful of survivors come by the booth to pre-register for the 2009 Relay.  However, these lucky survivors were given a free pine tree sapling which had been donated by the Missouri Conservation Department.  We also sold hot coffee, hot chocolate, hot cider and cookies at our booth along with items from our Christmas bazaar.  Thank you to everyone who donated all the wonderful beverage mixes, cookies and crafts and to the volunteers who manned the booths.  A great big THANK YOU to Theresa Block, Survivorship Chair for the 2009 Relay, for all of her hard work and effort in pulling it all together!

We also want to thank Kathy and Don Hill for donating the use of the truck and trailer for the Relay float.  Many thanks also go to the volunteers who came out to help decorate the float and for everyone riding and walking the parade route with us and for the contributions of candy to hand out at the parade to the children.  Many thanks also to Don for steering our float through the crowds!  A big THANK YOU to Kathy Hill for all of her hard work and effort in organizing the float project!

Reminder – Planning Committee Meeting
The next planning committee meeting for the 2009 Relay will be Thursday, December 11th at 6:00 p.m. at The Lighthouse.  If you are interested in serving as a volunteer on the planning committee, please attend this meeting.

Team Captain Meeting Scheduled
The first Team Captain meeting for the 2009 Relay will be held on Thursday, January 8, 2009 starting at 6:00 p.m. in the SMB Community Room located at 2417 South Grand.  If you aren’t yet sure you are going to have a team or have never had a team before but want to learn more, we hope you will attend this meeting.  If you would like more information about forming a team this year, please contact Jamie Carmickle, 2104 Forest Drive, Carthage, 417-659-2213, jcarmickle@ehometownbank.com or anyone listed in the “Need More Information” section of this newsletter.

Facing Tough Times Together
We know that our community and our country are experiencing significant economic problems which, more than likely, will continue throughout 2009 and even into 2010.  Many folks in our community have had or are facing job layoffs, and we are all paying higher prices for basic necessities such as fuel, clothing and food.  With people concerned about the future economic outlook many are concerned about asking for monetary donations during this difficult time.  We know it will be hard, but please think about how hard it will be for the person who is not only facing a job layoff and higher prices but who has also heard the words “you have cancer.”  Put yourself in their shoes for a minute.  What will it feel like to be in financial crisis yourself AND fighting cancer?  What if you had insurance through your job and you lost your job and now have no insurance to help pay the expenses of your treatment?  We must not give in to fear when asking for monetary donations.  We must focus on our cancer patients and the services they will need which are provided by the American Cancer Society.  A few of the services that are free to cancer patients are:

►    Cancer Survivors Network – an online support group for cancer survivors.
►    I Can Cope – an educational program for people facing cancer – either personally, or as a friend or family caregiver.
►    Road to Recovery – this program provides rides to and from treatment for people with cancer who do not have a ride or are unable to drive themselves.
►    Reach to Recovery – is a 35+ year program sponsored by ACS to help people (male and female) cope with their breast cancer experience.
►    Hope Lodge – Free lodging for cancer patients having to travel away from home for their treatment.
►    Man to Man – this program helps men cope with prostate cancer by providing community-based education and support to patients and their family members.
►    Look Good…Feel Better – this program is a community-based program that teaches female cancer patients beauty tips to look better and feel good about how they look during chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
►    Look Good…Feel Better for Teens – this program is unique in that it is for teenage cancer patients ages 13 to 17.  It helps them cope with how cancer treatment and side effects can change the way they look and addresses needs of both boys and girls.

There are also all the prevention and detection programs provided by the ACS that I haven’t even touched on! 

By the way, the ACS estimates there will be 692,000 new cancer cases (this count excludes basal and squamous cell skin cancers and in situ carcinoma except urinary bladder cancer) in 2008 with an estimated 271,530 resulting in death. 

Something Different in 2009
We will be accepting donations of canned goods (food as well as canned soda pop) for the 2009 Relay and encouraging our teams to collect what they can as well.  We are going to use the cans to weight down our luminaria bags the night of the Relay and then collect all the cans and donate them to one of the community organizations in Carthage such as the Salvation Army and Carthage Crisis Center.  If you have canned goods to donate, please contact Sherrie Lasiter at 358-8131, extension 3109.  We will be collecting them through the night of the Relay.

Wishing You A Merry Christmas
We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.  May 2009 be blessed with abundance and joy.

Need More Information?
If you would like more information about the 2009 Carthage Relay For Life, please contact one of the following:  Tracy Ackerman, Event Chair, 944 Paint Lane, Carthage, 358-8131, extension 3311, tracy.ackerman@leggett.com; Kathy Hill, 17778 Jayhawk Road, Carthage, 358-8131, extension 3979, kathy.hill@leggett.com; Teresa Roberts, 1707 Glenwood Place, Carthage, 358-8131, extension 4562, teresa.roberts@leggett.com or Joette Blades, Community Manager – Development, American Cancer Society, 2700 McClelland Boulevard., Building A, Suite 110, Joplin, Mo. 64804, 417-627-7506, fax number 417-782-2348, joette.blades@cancer.org.

Corrections, Additions, Deletions And/Or Address Changes
Please write, e-mail or call Nora Tebbets (1790 Pierce Lane, Neosho, MO 64850, nora.tebbets@leggett.com or 417-358-8131 x2402) with any corrections, additions, deletions and/or address changes for recipients of the News Flash.  We apologize if a survivor who is now deceased did not get removed from the mailing labels.  We do our best to screen the information, but sometimes we miss a name.  Also, if you know of a new survivor who may not yet be registered with the American Cancer Society and the Carthage Relay, please feel free to share your News Flash and encourage them to contact us to get on our mailing list.