Berkeley-Lacey Relay For Life Canceled Due To COVID Concerns

BERKELEY, NJ — The Berkeley-Lacey Relay For Life planned in Veterans Park on Saturday, Sept. 25 has been canceled due to concerns related to COVID-19.

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society's signature fundraiser dedicated to helping communities combat cancer. Residents gather to walk to raise awareness of, and money to fight, cancer. The walk is followed by a ceremony, in which everyone touched by cancer is recognized with a luminaria.

“Earlier this year, we made the difficult decision to postpone our event from June to September in the hopes that we would be able to gather safely and enjoy a somewhat more ‘normal’ Relay in the fall,” event lead Roxanne Stephens announced Sept. 2 on Facebook.

The committee met ahead of Labor Day weekend to discuss the upcoming event.

“The majority of the ELT members expressed serious concerns about going forward with a large gathering of participants and survivors during a time when Covid infection rates are once again on the rise,” Stephens wrote. “This was not at all what we had hoped for when we moved the event from June to September so many months ago, but somehow we still find ourselves in this undesirable situation. As a committee, we decided that the risk to our Relay participants, and especially our survivors, was just not worth taking at this time.”

Stephens continued, “If even one person got sick at our event, it would be one person too many. We once again made the very difficult decision to hold off on having our event as scheduled out of an abundance of caution.”

The committee has started planning for the 2022 Relay For Life of Berkeley-Lacey. The 2022 website will soon be posted along with a registration incentive.

Any sponsorships that were purchased for the 2021 event will be rolled over and honored at the 2022 event.

In lieu of the in-person event on Sept. 25, the committee will post a video recognizing the top fundraisers from this year and also displaying any Luminaria bags that were purchased this year. Those bags will also be placed around the track at the 2022 event.

“I hope you will all continue to support our fight against cancer and return to Relay with us in 2022,” Stephens said.

Future updates about the Berkeley-Lacey Relay For Life can be found on their Facebook page.

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