There is still time to sign up for the 2007 New Egypt Relay for Life

If you are female, your chance of getting it is 38 percent. If you are male, you have a 45 percent chance of getting it. And the older you get, the higher your odds get to having it. It is something so close to home that it has most likely impacted a family member, friend, or co-worker. No, it's not a tax audit or your odds of getting a speeding ticket. But it is a statistic you don't want to be part of.

In 2007, over 1.4 million of our American neighbors will be diagnosed with it and over 550,000 will die from it this year in the United States alone. It's cancer.

What goes through your minds when you hear that word? Is it anger, fear, apathy, compassion? How many of you have thought "It can't affect me, I'm healthy." Or maybe, "Will our health insurance cover it or will it wipe out our life savings?" And how gut-wrenching is it to hear that your child, or parent, or wife or husband has it?

On June 9 until sunrise June 10, many of your friends and neighbors will be participating in the local American Cancer Society Relay For Life event being held for the sixth consecutive year at New Egypt High School in Plumsted.

Teams (including many from our local schools) are currently holding numerous local events to support fundraising activities to raise awareness and funds to fight cancer.

This year, your local Relay For Life teams will eclipse the half million dollar cumulative donation mark, a major milestone for our rural communities.

With over six weeks to go, there is still plenty of time to get involved. You can join a current team, make a donation, form your own team, or just plan to come to the around-the-clock June event and enjoy the food, music and activities.

Through your generosity, your collective efforts have helped the ACS fight to cure cancer by funding numerous successful cancer drug developments, advocating non-smoking legislation and improving the five-year survival rate of cancer patients to over 66 percent.

If you would like to be involved or to request additional information about the New Egypt Relay For Life event, contact Anita Pfefferkorn, chairwoman, at anita@indianrockresort.com or visit acsevents.org/relay/nj/newegypt or for cancer information visit www.cancer.org or call 1-800-ACS-2345.

John Pfefferkorn

Chairman - Public Relations

New Egypt Relay for Life