Two decades after helping to get the Prince George Relay for Life moving, one of its founders is returning to lead the charge.
Prince George resident Jim VanderPloeg will serve as the honorary chair for the Canadian Cancer Society fundraiser as it celebrates its 20th anniversary May 12, 13 at Masich Place Stadium.
VanderPloeg said it's hard to believe the first relay was only 20 years ago. "It seems actually like a lot longer," he said of 1993's Romp n' Stomp.
As honorary chair, VanderPloeg is an ambassador for the Relay for Life and will help promote the event, be present at the opening, luminary and fight-back ceremonies on relay day. VanderPloeg will join the founder of the worldwide Relay for Life movement Dr. Gordon Klatt at the Prince George event.
VanderPloeg got emotional as he recalled the inspiration behind the inaugural event.
After losing his father to cancer in 1991, he wanted to do something to give back to the amazing volunteers he encountered at the Vancouver cancer clinic.
"After I had time to adjust after my father dying, I went and saw [Canadian Cancer Society manager Steve Horton] and said 'how can I help? What can I do?'"
Learning that fundraising was a major priority, the original team envisioned a charity bike ride as cycling seemed to be a "huge part of the fabric of Prince George," VanderPloeg recalled. But the RCMP put a kibosh on that idea, telling them it wasn't feasible to shut down city streets for the weekend.
Plan B came from Horton, who had heard of a relay that had met with success in Coquitlam.
"It was a 12-hour thing, and again, with a lot of ego, we said we have to one-up them, so we went to 24 hours," VanderPloeg said. "The first few years, finances were a difficult thing and at one point we were even told 'maybe you should reconsider this or go to a different venue.' But we were encouraged. We saw this as being something that was going to take off and we stayed with it and we're sure glad we did."
While the original 1993 event had six teams, the event has grown to attract more than 100. Last year, 121 teams participated.
"That's a really remarkable achievement and a testimonial to the community spirit and dedicated group of participants who come together each year," said Canadian Cancer Society regional director Margaret Jones-Bricker. "The passion shown by these teams and individuals translates into funding for cancer research support and prevention programs and cancer patients and their families are the beneficiaries of this good work and we thank you all."
Relay organizers are also asking teams to recognize the power of one and are encouraging teams to ask one more person to join them.
Last year, the average participant raised $274, said Trevor Patenaude, the relay's team development lead.
"Let's say, of those 121 teams, each one of those teams asked one more person to join. Seems pretty reasonable. If that would have happened, the Prince George relay would have raised an additional $33,154," Patenaude said.
To date, 97 teams have already registered for the 2012 Relay for Life, totaling nearly 850 participants.
Those who register by March 30 pay a $15 registration fee. That fee rises to $20 until the end of April. Teams of 10 people or more who sign up by March 30 will be entered into a draw for a $1,000 general team donation.
