The American Cancer Society estimates that the number of new cancer cases in 2023 will reach nearly 2 million, with Alabama alone accounting for 30,730 of those.

Out of those national statistics, ACS’s data from the National Center for Health Statistics projects that 609,820 people will die from cancer this year — and that’s with cancer mortality rates trending to decline overall, although the ACS does report rising frequencies “for breast, prostate and uterine corpus cancer,” a group that also happens to have the largest “racial disparities in mortality.”

In simpler terms, there is still much work to be done in cancer research.

You can help with that, and help yourself and family to some fun, hope and heartwarming encounters by joining Relay For Life of Limestone County. Read all about ways you can get involved in our special B section of The News Courier.

Across the nation, Relay events are the signature fundraisers for the ACS, and if you’ve ever been to one, you know why. From the survivors walk to the luminaries and all of the carnival-like events from sponsoring teams in between, the evening is one filled with cancer-free futures and a sharing of challenges being met today.

If you’ve never been to a Relay event, here’s how the ACS describes it:

“Relay For Life is the world’s largest volunteer-based fundraising event. For more than 36 years, communities across the world have come together to honor and remember loved ones and take action for lifesaving change. We strive to make this event as safe as possible and will follow local COVID related guidelines.

“At Relay For Life you’ll find community members taking turns walking around a track lined with luminaria bags. You’ll have the opportunity to cheer for local survivors (or participate as a survivor) in our first lap of the day. Caregivers of cancer patients (currently or previously diagnosed) will then be invited to join the Survivors. Local entertainers will keep you energized. As it gets dark, we will light the luminaria bags surrounding the track in a memorable luminaria ceremony. There will be opportunities to fundraise and fight back.”

The goals of many Relays — which are actually yearlong efforts — are often challenging, but attainable if we all pitch in. Limestone is aiming for a total of $70,000, with just over a quarter of that in hand already.

Relay organizers and teams need our support — and not only monetarily. They need all of us, for just a few hours, to walk in their steps and share the challenge of a disease that will, quite literally, touch each of us or a family member in some way at some point in our lives.

If you can help beyond moral support with donations, know that for the ACS, “every dollar makes a difference. At Relay For Life no donation is too small, each and every dollar counts. Your donations help fund groundbreaking cancer research, patient care programs, and can make a difference in communities like ours. With every donation, you are helping the American Cancer Society save lives.”