Saturday's Relay for Life Hopes to Raise More than $164,000

Come Saturday morning, hundreds of campers will be setting up base in Plainfield for an overnight event to celebrate life, to give back and to fight back.

The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Plainfield, sponsored by in Plainfield, will transform the track at into a picnic-style affair with food vendors, music, a bags tournament, midnight pizza party and wee-hour activities, including a limbo contest and three-legged race.

Outside the track will be RV and camp sites, radio stations, a kids’ game area, library story time, a bounce house, and food vendors such as and Aunt Nina’s Sweets & Treats.

The 13th annual fundraiser is open to the public as well as participants, organizers said.

“It’s like a big family,” event chair and cancer survivor Cheryl Mark, of Plainfield, said. “You’ll see people from around town or church who you didn’t know were cancer survivors. You have something in common you’re all fighting for and you build friendships.”

Registration is free. Participants can go solo or form a team, and walk the track between festivities. Teams are asked to have at least one member on the track throughout the event.

To keep things interesting on the track, a variety of laps will be announced, with Hokey Pokey, the Chicken Dance, skipping and galloping in the mix.

The “relay” aspect is not so much a time-based physical endurance challenge as it is a testament to cancer’s stronghold. Because cancer never sleeps, relays are overnight events that started with one man and now span the globe.

The American Cancer Society Relay for Life began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon from Tacoma, Wash., walked a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

“It’s a great time to meet people in Plainfield and a great night to fight back against cancer,” said Sam Provenzano, income development representative with the American Cancer Society’s Tinley Park office. “We want to take this event to the next level and make it the most successful ever.”

Organizers hope to top $164,000.

“It’s not too late to fundraise,” said Provenzano, who said more than 600 people have registered so far.

At press time, Praying for a Cure was the lead team, having raised more than $10,450.

“This year I decided to give it a go and my girlfriend and I had laughed about trying to raise the minimum $1,500,” said Wendy Proulx, of Plainfield, team captain for Praying for a Cure.

Friends and family made the majority of donations for the team, which is based out of , she said.

While Proulx is a first-timer for the Plainfield Relay, she has attended a relay in Michigan the past six years to support her mother, Barb Sprow, a breast cancer survivor.

“That first relay, she had just finished her treatment and broken her foot,” Proulx said. “We pushed her in a wheelchair around the track. It’s really emotional to be with survivors and see people laughing and crying.”

For the Plainfield event, Sprow will be in attendance along with Proulx’s sister and her family from Florida.

The relay also is a family affair for event chair Mark, who became involved with the Plainfield Relay in 2008 through as a way to expose her kids to community service. Not only does she have her own 30-person team, Mission Possible, but so do her 16-year-old twins. Nicholas Mark and fellow alumni from St. Mary Immaculate School formed Students with a Target: Cancer, while Justin and fellow competitive cheerleaders from All-Star Cheer formed Cheer 4 a Cure.

Mark’s family has a history of thyroid disease. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer seven years ago.

“I was very fortunate,” she said. “I didn’t go through 99 percent of what most cancer survivors go through. But now I’m trying to make a difference, and every year I get more people involved.”

On Saturday, registration for the Plainfield Relay for Life will open at 11 a.m. A luncheon for cancer survivors and caregivers sponsored by will be at 12:30 p.m.

The opening ceremony will be at 2 p.m., with survivors and caregivers making the first lap around the track. A Fight Back Ceremony will be at 6:15 p.m.

To honor people touched by cancer and remember loved ones lost to the disease, their names will be written on bags and candles lit inside during the Luminaria Ceremony at 9 p.m.

Activities don’t stop at nightfall though.

The Midnight Madness Pizza Party sponsored by CiCi’s and Aurelio’s will be followed by a limbo contest, three-legged race and the Electric Slide.

Breakfast sponsored by Panera, Dunkin- Donuts, Meijer and McDonald’s will be served at 5 a.m.

The closing ceremony with a balloon release will at 5:30 a.m., followed by a sunrise Mass.

For information, call (708) 633-7770 Ext. 230 or visit www.relayforlifeplainfield.com or www.facebook.com/relayforlifeplainfield.