‘We’re in it to win it’: Relay For Life is making strides against cancer | Kitsap Week

Editor’s note: This version corrects Alpha Shaffer’s last name. McCormick was her maiden name.

POULSBO — Betty Petersen was committed to walking five miles after midnight in the rain for someone who couldn’t.

It was 2 a.m. She was cold and wet and tired and achy. Her feet had blisters. So she turned to that someone who couldn’t, to help her finish what she started.

She called her mother, 2,504 miles away in Wheelersburg, Ohio, near the northern banks of the Ohio River. At 75, Alpha McCormick Shaffer knew what it was like to defeat breast cancer, only to have it return with a vengeance 10 years later. She knew what it was like to lose her hair more than once to radiation treatment and to spend 2.5 hours on a chemo drip.

Months earlier, during a visit in Wheelersburg, Shaffer had told her daughter, “I know you can’t do anything here, but you can in your community.” And so, sitting up in the early morning light, a 5/8-inch tube draining fluid from her lungs, the mom rooted the daughter on, compelling her to finish the work. You can do this, Betty, she told her. You can carry on the battle for those who are gone. You can walk another mile so others might live.

And so she did — not only finishing a five-mile walk around the track during Relay For Life, but steeling her involvement in the annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

Today, Petersen — a retired paraeducator at Suquamish Elementary School — is co-coordinator of Relay For Life North Kitsap, scheduled from 6 p.m. July 10 to noon July 11 at North Kitsap Stadium. It’s one of three Relays for Life in Kitsap County.

According to the American Cancer Society, Relay For Life is world’s largest fundraising event to end cancer. “It unites communities across the globe to celebrate people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and take action to finish the fight once and for all,” according to relay.acsevents.org. “Today, with the support of thousands of volunteers like you, the American Cancer Society is helping save more than 400 lives a day. And we won’t stop until we finish the fight against cancer.”

Petersen adds, “We’re in it to win it.”

In Relay For Life, businesses, families, schools, and organizations from fundraising teams and collect pledges — and, in doing so, spread the word about advances in cancer research, the importance of early detection, and services available for cancer patients, survivors and their families.

On the day of the event, a village of hope springs up at North Kitsap Stadium, with booths, tents and a community of people who walk the track day and night. The event starts with a survivors’ lap. When the sun sets, lighted luminarias line the track, each in honor of someone who is battling or has battled cancer. “When I’m tired or achy or feel I can’t go on, I think, ‘This is what they’re going through — they and anyone who has fought the fight,” Petersen said.

Each lap Petersen will walk is easier for her, as are all of the responsibilities of coordinating the 2015 Relay. She has a name in her head for each long hour juggling digital and day calendars, visiting potential sponsors, organizing fundraising events, for each lap she’ll walk around the North Kitsap Stadium track July 10-11. Her mom. Her uncles James and Everett, both of whom died of prostate cancer. Her uncle Wilson, who died from cancer believed caused by the Agent Orange to which he was exposed during several tours in Vietnam.

According to Petersen, there is much to celebrate. The American Cancer Society invests about $130 million each year in cancer research. To date, the society has funded 44 Nobel Prize-winning researchers. Money raised by Relay For Life also funds services for cancer patients, survivors and caregivers, including support groups and programs, resources for practical assistance, and skin care and makeup classes for women being treated for cancer.

“We are seeing progress. For every dollar, there is hope,” Petersen said. And every donation makes a difference. “No amount is rejected. If you want to send me 50 cents, I’ll take it.”

You don’t have to camp out on the stadium field or walk the track pre-dawn to make a difference.

— Buffalo Wild Wings in Kitsap Mall is donating 10 percent of all proceeds to Relay For Life on April 20, May 11 and 27, June 8 and 24, July 6 and 15.

— At the sixth hole at White Horse Golf Club, Petersen and other Relay For Life volunteers will be there to accept donations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 25, May 17, June 6 and July 5. If you can’t attend Relay, you can donate for a luminaria bag that local children will decorate and light for you during the event.

— The Loft in Poulsbo will donate $2 from every burger 6-9 p.m. on May 4.

— Petersen is presenting a greeting card party from 12:30-3 p.m. May 9 at Bible Baptist Church in Lemolo. Every $10 entry fee goes to the American Cancer Society. You’ll enjoy dessert and friendship, and you’ll go home with six greeting cards you made.

— Look for the Relay For Life booth at the Poulsbo Farmers Market on May 23 and June 20.

— You can get your yard in shape and help Relay For Life too. Petersen has a list of local young people who will pull weeds and do yard work in exchange for donations for Relay For Life.

Petersen’s 11-year-old granddaughter, Siry, is helping to raise money for Relay For Life.

“I thought it was amazing,” she said of her experience last year. “There were a lot of people. I felt really bad for what they’re going through, but it makes me feel proud doing what I can for other people and their families.”

Now, if you want to join the all-nighters at the stadium, it may be worth your while. The Grub Hut will have a food truck there. Skippers seafood restaurant will provide free chowder for walkers at 11 p.m. Bella Luna Pizza will provide pizza at midnight.

At 5 a.m., there’s a “rooster crow” contest. Everybody who wants to crows like a rooster to welcome the sunrise (cancer survivor Kathi Trostad reportedly dresses in a chicken costume to gain an edge). Last year, participants mingled with Seahawks linebacker Mike Morgan. This year’s special guests include Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson, Dr. Berit Madsen of the Peninsula Cancer Center in Poulsbo, and possibly a cancer researcher.

There is no fee to register a team. As of this writing, 15 teams with a total of 47 people had signed up. To register a team, contact Petersen at bettyrelayforlifeNK@yahoo.com or Kelly Drennan at tdrenn8@q.com. Or go to www.relayforlifeofnorthkitsap.org.

RELAY FOR LIFE TEAM MEETINGS: 5:30 p.m. on May 12 and June 9 at Bible Baptist Church in Lemolo. A Survivor Social is scheduled 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 29 at The Arena Bar, Bremerton.

FUNDRAISERS: Leslie Purser has organized a fundraiser, Mother’s Day with the Mariners, on May 10. View-level tickets for the game are available for $20, of which $8 goes to Relay For Life North Kitsap. Purser wrote on her Facebook page, “I relay for my brother, aunt and uncle. I relay to bring awareness to our community. I relay for those lost already.” Get more information about Mother’s Day with the Mariners at www.facebook.com/2015NKRelay4Life.

Kelly Drennan has organized an online fundraiser, Thirty One Relay For Life: www.mythirtyone.com/463588/shop/Party/EventDetail/8159002.