INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Fran Runion had heard enough. It seemed every time she turned around, another of her salon clients or associates at Francesca’s Hair Cutters in Sebastian told her they’d been diagnosed with cancer.
She formed her own team, Francesca’s Cutters, in the Relay For Life global event to help the American Cancer Society defeat cancer through treatment and research. The relay takes place in the North Indian River County area at Sebastian River High School Friday, April 12.
The team has already held a 56-head cut-a-thon that raised $1,700. This evening, Runion and her best friend and team leader Debbie Chorma, members of the Italian American Club of Sebastian on County Road 512, will host a spaghetti dinner there from 5 to 7 p.m.
The club donated all the salad, spaghetti with meatballs, soft drinks and dessert so that every penny of the $8 dinner purchase can be donated toward the team’s $3,000 goal.
While Runion is motivated by the enemy plaguing her friends, family and clients, what she won’t tell you is that she has been battling the enemy within.
She has had Stage 4 colon cancer for the past five years – there is no Stage 5.
She battles the disease into occasional near-remission through the same chemotherapy treatment her clients endure, designed to sicken the patient to the brink of dying in hopes that the malformed tiny cancer cells will die before the patient’s healthy cells do.
The locks that Runion and her associates style for sickened clients fall away because hair follicles are as tiny and fragile as cancer cells.
As Runion takes the time to comfort and pray with frightened clients, she never shares her own plight, nor is her experience a motivating factor for her participation in the Relay event.
“It’s not about me. Do you know how many clients and other friends I have lost to cancer?” Runion asked rhetorically. “I pray to God they find a cure and just be done with it, or at least find a treatment that has advanced to the degree of heart disease, where you can take a pill like for high blood pressure.”
As with Runion, one person can make a difference.
Nowhere is that more evident than with the story of Dr. Gordy Klatt and the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, which began in Tacoma, Wash., as the City of Destiny Classic 24-Hour Run Against Cancer.
Klatt, a Tacoma colorectal surgeon, decided to personally raise money for the fight against cancer by doing something he enjoyed – running marathons.
In May 1985, Klatt spent a grueling 24 hours circling the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma for more than 83 miles.
Throughout the night, friends donated $25 to run or walk 30 minutes with him. He raised $27,000 to fight cancer.
That first year, nearly 300 of Klatt’s friends, family and patients watched as he ran and walked the course.
He envisioned a 24-hour team relay event that could raise more money to fight cancer.
The vision turned into more than 5,200 Relay For Life events across the United States today and more than $4.5 billion in fundraising to save lives from cancer.
More than 4 million people in more than 20 countries take part.
In May, it will be 28 years since the launch of the Relay For Life, and five years since Runion was diagnosed with the same colon-type cancer that started the event.
The milestone marks the five-year term she was given to live, but Runion plans to continue standing with Relay survivors, quietly inspiring them in their shared battle, until old age is the culprit.
During a Relay event, participants and survivors celebrate what they’ve overcome during the Survivors Lap.
Activities take place over a span of two half-days including overnight, with team members spelling one another to cover the span.
During the Luminaria Ceremony, people remember loved ones lost to cancer and honor people who have fought cancer and are cured or in remission, or are currently fighting cancer.
The Fight Back Ceremony inspires Relay participants to take tangible action against the disease.
Locally, opening ceremonies take place at 6 p.m. next Friday, with a survivor celebration immediately following.
Survivors will then go into a tent to enjoy a special dinner provided by Capt Hiram’s.
At the luminary celebration, supporters can purchase glow devices to light up bags decorated with inspirational comments for what event organizers promise will be a spectacular sight.
Teams and supporters can have tents and booths throughout the event to sell items for additional donations toward team totals. The closing ceremony is at 10 a.m. next Saturday.
Businesses, other organizations and individuals who form teams are critically important to the totals raised at the event, said Theresa Woodson, American Cancer Society community representative for Indian River County.
“Businesses, in particular, are in a unique position to educate our community about cancer and our services, and help us to find survivors to invite to the event,” Woodson said.
Survivors can register during the spaghetti dinner at the Italian American Club from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, no dinner purchase necessary.
Businesses and organizations have a unique way of raising money, such at Runion’s cut-a-thon and her club’s spaghetti dinner, or pocket change collected by elementary school students, for example, added Jessica Keaton, event chairwoman for North Indian River County.
“Francesca’s Hair Cutters are a perfect example of the difference a small business can make,” said Keaton, who also is assistant principal at Sebastian River High School.
Big business also plays a key role, but it still comes down to the small business, Woodson said.
As a perfect example, Walgreens pharmacy is a national corporate sponsor, while each of the chain’s locations decide whether to activate a team.
Like Runion and Klatt, Bill Schultz is another example of how one person can make a difference.
The manager of the Roseland Walgreens store on U.S. 1, Schultz took it upon himself to form a team that pools the power of his and the other two Walgreens stores in the Sebastian area, one on U.S. 1 and another on Sebastian Boulevard.
The stores hold bake sales and sell items at each location as well as place containers for spare change at sales counters. Already, they are halfway to their $5,000 goal before team members set foot in the Sebastian Sharks Stadium.
In addition to benefiting a good cause, Schultz’s said the event is business smart.
“Everybody seems to have a family member or friend who has had cancer, so it really brings it home for a lot of the participants. Being a small community like Sebastian, it really brings our area together to do this at all three stores,” Schultz said.
“On a company level, it brings the stores and store employees together to build team camaraderie with a little good-natured rivalry between them,” Schultz said.
“The greatest benefits from a business standpoint are, of course, the exposure and being seen by the community as caring about something that means a great deal to them, which leads to customer loyalty.”
