Derrick Miller
DUNCAN — The Relay For Life of Stephens County has continued to grow, and the chapter was recognized for that accomplishment.
The local chapter was recognized with several state awards during the Relay Summit. The summit, which was formerly called “Relay University,” is a program designed to inform team captains about what to expect the night of the relay.
Sharon Brooke, the chapter’s information officer, said, “We won the Shining Star Award for having five or more years of continuous growth.”
This isn’t the first time the chapter has won the award. The local group also went on to win several other awards at the summit.
The Stephens County chapter was first runner-up for money raised per capita. If everyone in Stephens County had raised money, each person would have had to collect $3.94 to make what the organization did with its volunteers.
Overall, the local chapter was able to raise more than $125,000. With this amount of money raised, the Stephens County group came in at No. 7 in the state for money collected. There are 79 chapters of Relay For Life in the state.
Brooke said the Stephens County chapter also had one of the top teams in the state. The Hope in Action team from Halliburton Manufacturing was the No. 3 team in the state. The team is composed entirely of cancer survivors. Hope in Action collected $28,277.
The Stephens County Relay For Life also gained notoriety with the number of people attending the Relay Summit. Brooke said 21 people from Stephens County made the trip up to Oklahoma City to participate in the program. This was the most people from any chapter in the state to take part in this year’s summit.
Brooke said she was happy with the results. During the captain’s meeting Thursday, Gina Flesher, chapter chairwoman, and Jarilyn Harris, co-chairwoman, revealed the results to the team captains and co-captains in attendance.
They said the awards were earned by the local chapter and its members. Flesher and Harris said they’re looking forward to another good year for Relay For Life.
This year’s monetary goal for the local organization is set at $135,000. This is just under $10,000 more than what the chapter raised in last year’s campaign.
The chapter set a goal on getting more participation to keep the program growing in Stephens County. The local group wants to get at least 52 teams with each team having up to 15 people.
This year’s Stephens County Relay For Life will begin at 6 p.m. June 4 at Halliburton Stadium. Brooke said the chapter may have done well in the last campaign, but the goal is to continue the positive trend.
“We did better than we did last year,” Brooke said. “We’re going to keep getting the Shining Star.”
— Derrick Miller is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 160, or via e-mail at derrick.miller@duncanbanner.com.
