Dozens of volunteers are working furiously to fill 10,000 luminaria bags for this year’s Relay for Life of Yellowstone socially safe Street Edition and luminaria cruise. Each luminaria honors someone who has been affected by cancer. Volunteers met at the West High parking lot for their assigned duties starting at 6:00 a.m. July 10, 2020 and many won’t get off the clock until the event is over at 11:00 p.m. The majority are scheduled for clean up duty the following day. The American Cancer Society’s Billings office says it takes more than 100 volunteers to make this event possible each year.
“Our volunteers put their hearts and souls into relay, and we could not pull off an event of this magnitude without them,” says Relay for Life of Yellowstone Community Development Manager Andrea Arredondo. “We are forever grateful for their role in saving lives via raising funds for critical cancer research.”
Among the volunteer duties, procuring several tons of sand, filling luminaria bags with sand, placing them along the 1.5 mile route on 24th Street West from Grand Avenue to Monad Road, walking the route before dusk to break glow sticks into the luminaria bags, hanging social distance signage and sponsor logo banners, taking donations during the event at the West High parking lot via a convenient and socially safe drive through donation lane.
Relay for Life of Yellowstone is consistently ranked in the top 10 worldwide for funds raised per capita. In 2019 this relay ranked 6th in the world, raising more than $606,000 for cancer research and local programs supporting survivors.
ACS representatives say they are always looking for additional volunteers. For more information on how to get involved, visit www.yellowstonerelay.org.
Community members are invited to cruise the relay route anytime from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. July 10, 2020.
