Powerful? in purple: Relay for Life launches season with ?Paint the Valley Purple, ?Kickoff Feb. 10
Published 3:26 pm Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Don’t be surprised if you see a lot more purple in the Valley starting next week. Sure, the Seahawks’ blue and green will still be around, but for a couple of weeks, anyway, purple will probably be a lot more prominent.
Paint the Valley Purple, an awareness campaign by the Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life, is a two-week event designed to get people talking about Relay for Life, by putting purple, the Relay’s signature color, on display wherever they can, Feb. 1 to 14.
“Our goal is to make it even bigger than last year,” Jorgensen said, as she planned for the 2015 Relay for Life. “And we’re offering to paint people’s windows for them.”
The purple lights, ribbons and even window paintings, offered for a small donation this year, lead up to the Relay Kickoff event, starting at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the North Bend Theater.
Come to the kickoff for a small sample of what the Relay is like — gatherings of friends, live entertainment, inspirational speakers, food and drink, and one unifying goal, fighting cancer.
“It’s not always about the money,” says Jorgensen. While the event is a fundraiser for cancer research, she says, “It also becomes a very hopeful, family event for people.”
For teams that are already organized, the kickoff gives them a head start on the fundraising, too. Proceeds from the event are divided equally among the teams that register at the kickoff. So far, Jorgensen knows of 11 teams that have formed, which is a good start on the organizers goal for the 2015 Relay.
“Our goal is 45 teams this year,” Jorgensen said. Last year, they set a goal of 40 teams — up from 20 — and got 41 teams, so this year’s goal is just for growth.
Teams can have from five to 20 people.
The fundraising goal remains $100,000, Jorgensen said, and every year, the group gets closer to reaching it. Last year’s Relay brought in $87,000 and the 2013 event, $54,000.
In addition to the entry fee, $10 for the party and a 7 p.m. showing of “The Fault in Our Stars,” the kickoff raises funds through sales of luminarias honoring those who have or had cancer.
Relay for Life of Snoqualmie Valley is set for July 11 and 12 at Torguson Park in North Bend.
To learn more, visit snovalleyrelay.org. To have your windows painted for Paint the Valley Purple, contact Sharon Piper at dtpiper1@comcast.net.
To order kickoff tickets, contact Jorgensen at snoqualmie.relay@gmail.com, or visit www.snovalleyrelay.org.
Bev Jorgenson, Cindy Walker and Cathy Boyd take the stage at the 2014 Relay for Life Kickoff event.
Cancer survivors gather behind a purple “Survivors” banner at the 2014 Relay for Life.
