The team that used to be known as Enterprise 4-H has changed its name for this year, but team captains remain the same, sisters Lizzi and Tina Langum.
Team spokesperson Lizzi Langum said the team is gearing up for this year’s event, with a dozen team members already and several fundraisers under their belts.
Relay For Life of Escalon is scheduled for June 27 and 28 at Escalon High School.
The 4-H team changed its name for the 2015 event to honor their friend Dana Pereira, who lost her battle with cancer last December.
“She had been our survivor and this was her third battle with cancer,” Langum said of honoring Pereira’s memory. “We have 12 team members and most of them are from our 4-H group but we are also going to have some of Dana’s family participate with us.”
The Langum sisters have been involved in the Escalon Relay since its first year and prior to that, were active in the Modesto Relay for a few years.
“I guess I just like it all,” Langum said of enjoying the overall event, which brings teams together for 24 hours to raise money, honor survivors and remember those lost to the disease. “I just want to try and find a cure for cancer, raise as much money as we can.”
Escalon’s event now has 126 participants signed up on 13 teams and has raised over $7,540. Dana’s Dairygirl Dominators alone has gone over the $900 mark to date.
Langum said her team has done well with pre-event fundraisers, specifically offering ‘Parents Night Out’ by babysitting for youngsters while the parents enjoy an evening out together.
“So far we have done four of those and we are getting ready to do one on April 25,” Langum said.
Cost is $10 per child and the babysitting night is staged at Escalon’s Country Kids. Hours are from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
“We take children from birth to 12, we feed them dinner, we do a craft, we have movie time,” Langum said. “We raised a lot of money doing it that way.”
Parents interested in signing their children up can contact Langum at 209-402-5397.
The $10 per child fee directly benefits the team and Langum said one parent at a previous ‘night out’ gave them $50 and didn’t want change, even though she did not have five children at the event.
“She said it all goes to Relay and she had had family members with cancer,” Langum said, noting that she was grateful for the added donation.
At the June event, the team will sell tri tip sandwiches for dinner, have an ongoing bake sale, host sack races and more.
The sisters will also bring back their signature cow bells, which they ring to encourage team members as they walk their laps around the track at Engel Field.
Next week: A preview of team Cancerous Suckitous.
