Twenty-four Hours for Cancer: Angwin Sends a Team to Relay for Life

A sunny Sabbath morning in September found a group of Angwin residents, including several Pacific Union College faculty and staff members, holding their Sabbath school class in an unlikely location: a high school track in Calistoga. But they weren’t the only people there; a Relay for Life was in full swing, with members of about 50 teams walking or running laps in an event that celebrates survivorship and raises money to help the American Cancer Society.

The TLC4 Sabbath school class, a group started and led by PUC education professor Jim Roy, signed up a team for the 24-hour event. “We felt it was a good way to spend our time and energy,” says Maggie Roy, the team captain and a social work department staff member. The team had a member on the track at all times, while holding their Sabbath school class and running an on-site fundraiser.

The team’s creative fundraiser won them a “Best Use of Humor” award during the event. They had paper bras and boxer shorts pinned to a large umbrella, and when people came up to ask what they were all about, they were told that for any donation amount they could take the paper underwear and design them any way they wanted, and then write on them the date of their last mammogram or prostate exam. At the end, the class had gathered over $500 in donations, and the relay as a whole raised over $150,000 for the cause.

The TLC4 Sabbath school class is based on the four C’s: Care, Communication, Connection, and Choice. Maggie Roy explains, “We look for service opportunities because we want Adventists to have a positive role in community and not be off in a secluded group.” She adds, “And you get more of a blessing than you give in that sort of thing! There isn’t anybody [on the team] who hasn’t been touched by it in some way.”

“Feedback from those who participated has been resoundingly positive,” says Jim Roy. “It is our hope that many more will want to join us for next year’s Relay for Life.”