The Le Sueur County Relay for Life witnessed one of its largest crowds in recent years as scores of community members came together Friday to honor cancer survivors and build a future free of the life-threatening disease.
For many years, the American Cancer Society fundraiser has drawn crowds of cancer survivors, caregivers and charitable donors to the Le Sueur County Fairgrounds for an event which celebrates community members who have overcome their battle with cancer and commemorates those who lost their lives to the illness.
While the event has long had support from all corners of the county, turnout and donations at the 31st annual Relay for Life surpassed organizers’ expectations. Thanks to the dedicated fundraising efforts of seven teams and attendance doubling the previous year’s, the Relay for Life easily cleared their $35,000 fundraising goal to raise nearly $60,000 for cancer research.
The total represents one of the Le Sueur County Relay’s largest hauls in recent years, surpassing the $48,000 grand total from the previous year’s relay by more than $10,000.
Le Sueur County Relay member and former honorary survivor Julie Harmon was thrilled with the results, noting that the sum would help further research efforts to effectively treat cancer.
With thousands of similar relays happening all across the country, the American Cancer Society fundraiser is one of the leading benefactors of cancer research. The nonprofit organization is second only to the federal government in its contributions toward cancer research and the Relay for Life has raised nearly $5 billion for the cause since its inception in 1985.
“That research enabled me to take aromatase inhibitors instead of receiving chemo when I was diagnosed with my cancer, so I know the research makes a huge difference,“ said Harmon.
The event organizer credited the tremendous turnout to the efforts of new leadership on the Le Sueur County Relay for Life committee, who spearheaded an advertising campaign across newspapers, radio stations and a new Facebook page managed by Amy Sellner.
The Relay for Life also offered attendees plenty of opportunities to donate to the cause, whether through bidding on items in the silent auction, participating in the basket raffle or wine pull or in the event’s all new 50/50 raffle. Eric Ven Brecklin of Shakopee was the lucky winner of the inaugural raffle, walking away with a $2,270 jackpot.
Opening ceremony
At the top of the evening, the Relay for Life Committee invited community members to enjoy a beef sandwich and hot dog meal, followed by a live performance by the St. Anne’s dancers. Immediately following the show, attendees headed out to the Le Sueur County Fairgrounds track where Bette Traxler welcomed guests to the opening ceremony.
Le Center Mayor Christian Harmeyer delivered opening remarks reminding audience members of the important role funds raised had in developing new cancer treatments, calling on them to remember the lives lost to cancer and to celebrate those who have survived the disease.
Pastor Terri Horn of Methodist Church of Le Sueur stood up in front of the bleachers following Harmeyer’s speech to offer words of encouragement to those facing cancer diagnosis, “Never underestimate how important your presence is in someone else’s life.”
Survivor speaks
Before the survivors walk, the Le Sueur County Relay for Life welcomed one final guest speaker, honorary cancer survivor Jaci Kopet, who spoke on her own battle with stage three inflammatory breast cancer in hopes of making others more aware of the signs and symptoms.
Kopet’s cancer diagnosis took her by surprise when it was first detected in 2018. She initially sought treatment in December, 2017 to address pain she was experiencing in her breast and armpit area,but neither she nor her doctors believed cancer could be the cause. After all, Kopet was cleared in a regular mammogram she took just a couple months prior.
But as the pain worsened to the point Kopet couldn’t raise her arm above her head, it became increasingly clear that muscular pain wasn’t to blame for her symptoms. Yet at the same time, Kopet wasn’t experiencing any of the typical indicators of cancer. A second mammogram and an ultrasound both indicated she was cancer free, but Kopet still had a hunch something else was wrong.
That’s when Kopet discovered a rash that formed on her chest. Dermatologists were initially skeptical that the rash was cancerous, but the results of a biopsy later revealed that Kopet had carcinoma.
“All my fears were confirmed. Looking back, I knew all along that it was cancer and was hoping it was something else,” said Kopet.
The news couldn’t have come at a worse time. While Kopet was reeling with her new cancer diagnosis, she was also grappling with her mother reaching the end of her life in hospice care. Both calamities struck at once. Her mother died the same morning that Kopet was scheduled to receive her PET scans.
“The day is still a blur, but with my family by my side, I said goodbye to Mom in the morning, and I headed to the doctor for my PET scan results in the afternoon with [my husband] Robbie,” said Kopet. “I already knew I had cancer, I just didn’t know how bad it was or how advanced it was. Was I able to get treatment or was it too advanced that I couldn’t? That was my biggest fear, I just didn’t know what the future held.”
The scan showed her inflammatory breast cancer had progressed to stage three and spread to her armpit and a nodule on her neck. As her family picked up the pieces and planned her mother’s funeral, Kopet was heading to Rochester for her first chemotherapy treatments.
“As hard as it was, I was determined life must go on,” said Kopet. “I was not going to let this define who I was or what limitations I was going to have to have.”
After several months of treatment, the cancer appeared to have subsided until it came roaring back in 2021. This time around, Kopet was inundated with chemotherapy treatments for a full year.
For Kopet, the physical toll of her cancer treatments were much easier to manage than the mental burden of anxiety and uncertainty that came with it, but there were five key lessons she learned that carried her through her cancer journey.
During her cancer journey, Kopet found strength in her faith and is a firm believer in the power of prayer. She also took care to enjoy every day and focus on the things in life that really matter. Kopet further learned to put trust in her doctors, lean on her friends for support to take her mind off the disease and to make treatment days fun days by incorporating activities like shopping and eating out.
Survivor walk
Following Kopet’s speech, the Le Sueur County Relay for Life ushered in the survivor walk with a brand new bubbles and bells ceremony.
As cancer survivors clad in purple prepared to round the Fairgrounds track, the Relay for Life Committee unleashed a flurry of bubbles into the air as a symbol of joy, hope and new beginnings.
“[Bubbles] remind us we are all connected in this together, something that every caretaker and survivor needs to remember and feel,” said Traxler. “Some believe when we blow bubbles we are sending our prayers up to heaven — what an amazing visual of something so simple.”
As the bubbles floated in the air, organizers rang four dinner bells in tribute to the cancer bell survivors ring after they leave the hospital cancer free. As the bells rang throughout the Fairgrounds, cancer survivors led by Kopet marched around the track line with paper luminarias created in honor of those who lost their lives to cancer. Brothers Tim, Rich, Chuck and Phil Murray sang a rendition of “You Raise Me Up” as the survivors took their walk.
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