Drive-through illuminari ceremony replaces Relay for Life
CHICO » As the coronavirus continues to force the cancellation of large groups, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event scheduled for Sunday at Degarmo Park in Chico was the latest to fall victim to a cancellation.
Sunday, the event leadership team for the Relay For Life of Butte County hosted a drivethru luminaria ceremony at the
United Health Care parking lot off 20th street in Chico. There were about 25-30 cars who showed up, said event leadership team member, and 14-time Relay for Life participant Jennifer Garlinghouse. Garlinghouse said the event has from 100-300 walkers in most years not impacted by the virus.
Most years the leadership team is planning for things like what teams are participating, what fundraising ideas are available if teams will have food or other fundraising events going on. This year was different. Efforts focused more on figuring out which parts of the event the organization were still possible, and next how they would execute them.
The idea they came up with to keep in 2020 was the luminaria event. On a normal relay event, the luminaria ceremony is held at night, and bags are decorated in honor, memory or in support of someone that has gone through, survived or died from cancer. Bags are placed around the track with glow sticks inside as walkers walk past them.
“It’s a really good healing,” Garlinghouse said. “We wanted to try to keep that part of the relay active with the drive-thru that we did yesterday. We had a lot of bags and we had hung them up so that when people drove through our little area in their cars hopefully they could see them.”
Garlinghouse has a lot of experience in her time volunteering with Relay For Life. Her journey began in high school when her mom volunteered at the American Cancer Society and began talking with the person in charge. Both Garlinghouse and her mother did the walk the first time, and by her second year, Garlinghouse was a team captain before shortly joining the event leadership team.
Garlinghouse’s workplace Nevitt and Witt Insurance sponsored her team and 14 years later she hasn’t missed a stride.
However in beginning in 2013 the event became personal for Garlinghouse. After initially joining not because she knew anyone with cancer but rather to do something with her mom, now it became for her mom. Her mom battled for six years through chemotherapy and surgeries but passed away in April 2019, though from a noncancer related event. But her mother’s cancer journey made why she has done the event since 2006 personal.
“It just seemed like when my mom was going through chemo and all her doctor’s visits it hit more home that this is what people are going through and this is why we’re doing it,” Garlinghouse said.
Garlinghouse realized how the money she was raising each used was being put to use first-hand. Whether it be car rides, medical treatment or struggling to keep up with other medical bills, the experience with her mom made her thankful.
“It kind of flipped because like this is the real reason why we’re raising money. Not that it wasn’t before but it just doesn’t hit you all at once.” Garlinghouse said. “But all just coming together to support something we all know and love too or has someone going through it. You just feel overwhelmed and loved and supported and just taken care of.”
This year was different. It was supposed to be the second year for Garlinghouse to be doing the Relay for Life walk in memory of her mother. The walk itself this year was forced to go virtual, and the “event” being a drive-thru, but Garlinghouse said one thing did not change — the connections made.
One car drove by and after the leadership team thanked the driver for coming, the driver responded “No, thank you for doing this, thank you for being here, thank you for putting this on.”
“There’s always that one or two people you talk to and you know it means so much to them,” Garlinghouse said.
Another driver explained that she had just lost her husband from cancer and the two of them were at last year’s Relay for Life holding signs in support.
“That hits your heart,” Garlinghouse said. “There will always be somebody there. Even if you just think we’re just doing this, there’s always somebody that will come up to you and say something or renew your passion and faith in why you’re doing this.”