Relay for Life Smashes Through Fundraising Goal

When this year's Relay for Life kicked off Saturday morning in Farmington's Shiawassee Park, organizers said their goal this year was $78,000 – $4,000 more than last year's total.

By 10 a.m. Sunday, co-chair Tania DeSostoa-McCue proudly announced that goal had been met, and then some. With funds still coming in, the group had raised $82,963 for the American Cancer Society.

"This is awesome," DeSostoa-McCue said after a closing ceremony for the event, which had participants walking in teams for 24 hours. As a new mom, she did go home and get a few hours of rest. "It's a little exhausting."

Lindsey Combs of White Lake organized TFC Trotters, a team that included employees from Trott Financial Center. They created a walking schedule, with groups of six to 10 walking at a time.

"We worked on it pretty much year-round," Combs said, adding that the company started participating in Relay for Life "to get more involved in the community." Workers who walk are rewarded with three months' worth of permission to wear casual clothes to work.

The effort paid off; for the second year, TFC Trotters received an award for raising the most money. Their total was more than $11,900.

The team Family for a Cure was named the top Rookie Team. The group comprised family and friends from communities throughout southeast Michigan, including Farmington, Livonia, Brighton, Oak Park and Macomb. Team spokesperson Laura Evans of Commerce said the group walked to honor family members.

"We lost our cousin, Mary (Goldon-Stull), on Feb. 28 to colon cancer," she said. "And our uncle Walt (Jensen) is battling prostate cancer."

DeSostoa-McCue said relay walkers remember the loved ones they've lost or who are cancer survivors "with every step as we walk along the track. Relay is how we choose to make a difference against this disease. Through Relay, we have the power to fight back."