LIVINGSTON-Sumter County will join the millions of people who have already taken part in the fight against cancer as they launch their most recent Relay for Life effort.

The program is expected to take place April 21 with a kickoff planned for Nov. 8.

This years Relay for Life hopes to follow the success of their 2005 campaign. Last year the Sumter Relay raised $43,000 for the American Cancer Society. Laura Hester, Sumter County’s event chair, said they expect more great things from this year’s event.

“We’re excited about our plans for 2006 and look forward to having new teams and participants join us,” Hester said. “This kickoff is just the beginning of great things to come.”

Relay for Life representative Alicia King said the kickoff party would be an opportunity to introduce team leaders and community leaders to the event and gather support. It will also be an opportunity to show some of the progress the program has made in the last year.

“This will be our official party to kickoff this years event,” King said. “We are inviting everyone including the mayor, city council members and anyone else who is interested in learning more about Relay for Life to come out. We will show them all the progress we made in 2005 in research, patient care and other areas.”

King said the kickoff would also be a great starting point for team captains and a chance to help them in their recruitment efforts.

“At the kickoff we are going to invite anyone who would like to attend, including team captains and past team captains to come out,” King said. “We will give out the team packets and talk about our plans for the upcoming year. We will also show a recruitment video.”

Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society’s team event to fight cancer. Relay is the largest cancer fund-raiser in the nation. The event was held in more than 4,200 communities nationwide last year and brings participants together to raise money for cancer research, education, advocacy and patient support programs.

The public is invited to learn more about Relay for Life at the kickoff Nov. 8 at the University of West Alabama Student Union Building (the SUB). The kickoff starts at 5:30 p.m.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide, community based, voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service.

For more information on Relay for Life call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.