On June 27th and 28th, 2009, T.D. Service Financial Corporation employees participated in the “Cancer Relay for Life” event sponsored by the American Cancer Society, held at Brea Olinda High School in Brea, California. Cancer Relay for Life celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.  This 24 hour, overnight charitable event began on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. The idea is that since cancer "does not sleep,” participants in the event do not either. Instead, they continuously walk the track to raise both awareness of, and funds to fight cancer.

T.D. Service’s Team Captain, Renee Gray and her husband Wes, headed up the event and camped out all night on behalf of the T.D. Service Team.  Each T.D. Service employee who participated pledged to walk with family or friends for at least two hours during the event. 

The relay event began with survivors of cancer walking the track first. A Luminaria ceremony took place after dark, where the names of loved ones who died of the disease were read, and each was honored with a personalized luminaria placed around the track. A midnight movie was shown for those camping overnight. The closing ceremony was conducted the next morning at 9:30 a.m.

The T.D. Service team collected donations on behalf of the American Cancer Society and finished 4th place in on-line donations, out of 15 teams participating. Thanks to the generosity of our Chairman of the Board, Dale Dykema, our company matched all donations collected by T.D. Service employees, dollar for dollar. In total, the Brea Cancer Relay for Life collected over $25,000 in contributions.

If you would like to participate in a relay event, or make a donation, please contact the local chapter of the American Cancer Society Relay for Life at (800) ACS-2345 or visit their website online at http://www.cancer.org/.