Every year, hundreds of volunteers from Worcester raise hundreds of thousands of rand for CANSA Relay for Life. Worcester Radiology is proud to be part of the effort.

Locals know CANSA Relay for Life as one of their most memorable annual charity events. More than 200 supporters from all walks of life keep a relay event going an entire night. Many touching moments – honouring cancer survivors and loved ones lost to the disease – are balanced with hilarious team events and energy-boosting entertainment.

Relay teams don’t just sacrifice one night, however. The total 2017 tally was R260 000, and that doesn’t happen overnight.

Teams commit to a series of fundraisers each in the months before the culminating event. Worcester Radiology staffer Carla Theron says their fundraisers of choice were a raffle, regular samosa sales and a coffee kiosk at the event itself. “But we didn’t concentrate as much on fundraising as we did on awareness, since we’re working in the healthcare sector.”

At the kick-off event in May to mark the official beginning of the team campaigns.

The 15-strong team chose cancers of the eye as their theme. On a serious note, they advocated for prevention and early detection on posters, flyers and in the practice’s reception area. The real attention grabber was the brilliantly humorous side of their campaign – the giant eyeballs which they kept “in their care” from beginning to end.

And that’s the beauty of CANSA Relay for Life, which has become a worldwide phenomenon with more than 50 chapters in South Africa. It combines critically important information sharing with fundraising and fun – the stuff of community.

“It’s fantastic to be part of Worcester’s passionate healthcare community,” says Carla. “CANSA Relay for Life adds a unique dimension to that, and we’ll gladly keep on supporting it!

For more information about CANSA Relay for Life, click here.

Fundraising and awareness go hand in hand with any CANSA Relay for Life event.