1985
In May, Relay For Life® is born when Dr. Gordy Klatt takes the first step of his 24-hour
walk/jog/run around a track in Tacoma, Wash., raising $27,000 to support the American
Cancer Society.
1992
Relay For Life becomes the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event and
within the first year surpasses involvement by more than 500 communities nationwide.
1999
The first Relay in the southern hemisphere takes place in Melbourne, Australia. Today,
Relay For Life is a global movement with events in 19 countries outside the United
States.
2002
American Cancer Society Relay For Life Celebration on the Hill™, a grassroots event
celebrating cancer survivorship and empowering people to advocate for laws that will
help fight back against cancer, takes place in Washington, D.C.
2003
Relay surpasses $1 billion in total contributions since the event’s inception in 1985.
2005
Relay marks 20 years of growth with its most successful year to date: donations reaching
$351 million.
The first Relay For Life event is held in the interactive online community Second Life.
2006
More than 10,000 Ambassadors and supporters gather in the nation’s capital for the
American Cancer Society Cancer Action NetworkSM’s second Celebration on the Hill™
event. The Relay For Life Wall of Hope, bearing more than one million signatures, is
constructed on the National Mall as the world’s largest temporary monument.
Relay For Life and ABC television team up for a five-day-long Relay in Spencer County,
Ind., as part of an episode of the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Shawna Farina
of St. Meinrad, Ind., an active Relay For Life participant, is the recipient of the home
makeover.
2007
Relay For Life launches www.RelayForLife.org, a Web site featuring social networking
and comprehensive information on Relay. From its inception through 2009, more than
2.6 million people have visited the site.
2008
The first Fight Back Ceremonies are held at community Relay For Life events
nationwide, giving Relay participants the opportunity to make a pledge to save a life.
The fourth annual Relay For Life of Second Life is held in the interactive online
community, raising a record-$215,000 and engaging with people around the world who
otherwise might not have participated in a Relay event.
2009
Cancer survivors, caregivers, and American Cancer Society volunteers around the globe
celebrate “25 years of HOPE” through Relay For Life.
The American Cancer Society launches a Facebook application to enable active social
media users to share their Relay For Life experiences, celebrate the 25th year of Relay,
and fundraise via their personal networks.
Relay For Life now takes place in 5,000 communities across the United States and in 19
other countries and involves more than 3.5 million participants who are all helping the
American Cancer Society deliver on its mission of helping people stay well, by
preventing cancer or detecting it early; get well, by being in their corner through every
step of their cancer experience; by finding cures, through groundbreaking research and
treatment discoveries; and by fighting back, through influencing public policy.
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