For the past 5 years, Berman & Riedel, LLP, Partner Kelley Riedel (Berman) has been a member of the Committee for the Carlsbad Relay for Life, a 24-hour event in which people from the community join together to fight back against cancer. This year’s event will take place at Valley Middle School beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 27 and concluding at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 28. Just as cancer doesn’t take a break, for 24 hours participants will remember loved ones they have lost to cancer, celebrate survivors and their caretakers, and fight back with every ounce of prevention, information, medical treatment and support possible.
The Carlsbad Relay for Life benefits the American Cancer Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting cancer patients and their families. For more than 65 years, research conducted and funded by ACS has saved countless lives by finding innovative therapies which improve cancer patients’ quality of life. No single nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization in the U.S. has invested more funding to find the cause and cures of cancer than ACS. In addition to this life-saving research, ACS supports cancer patients by helping them find medical providers, transporting them to treatments and appointments, assisting them with handling financial matters, and so much more. ACS also supports caregivers and family members, including a summer camp for young children and siblings of cancer patients where children have the chance to make friends with others who understand what they are going through in having a relative who is affected by cancer.
Ms. Riedel first attended the Carlsbad Relay in 2007, and since 2009 she has chaired the silent auction portion of the event. Together with husband William Berman and their three children, Sara, Allyson & Ben, and friends and family, their team, Cancer Schmancer, has walked countless miles and raised almost $5,000 in support of the Carlsbad Relay. This year the team has raised the bar by setting their fundraising goal at $3,000. The Berman children enjoy raising funds for Relay by hosting bake sales in their neighborhood and the team also counts on donations from family and friends.
What makes the Carlsbad Relay for Life unique is the people who come together and share their stories about how cancer has affected their lives. During every Relay for Life event across the country, survivors are celebrated and their caregivers are recognized for giving their support to loved ones. Another important part of every Relay event is the Luminaria Ceremony where hundreds of luminaria are decorated to remember and honor loved ones who have battled cancer. Candles are lit inside of these personalized bags and placed around the track as glowing tributes to those who have been affected by cancer.
A lot of planning, time and effort goes into making an event like the Carlsbad Relay for Life a success. Though the fundraising is an important part of Relay and has no doubt made an incredible impact in the fight against cancer, of equal importance is giving the community a place to join together in the fight against cancer. And though so much progress has been made in this battle, it seems that year after year we find more reasons to Relay. Just in the past year alone, two of Berman & Riedel, LLP’s nurse experts were diagnosed with breast cancer, giving us even more reasons to keep participating in Relay. And we won’t stop until there is a cure.
If you’d like to find out more about the Carlsbad Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society, visit: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY13CA?pg=entry&fr_id=48821
