County residents over the weekend had a chance to share their pain, their stories and their uplifting messages about a disease that affects everybody in some way.
"I've witnessed too much pain and so have you," said Jordan Johnson, organizer of the Hollister Relay for Life's "Fight Back" event, during Saturday's closing ceremonies at San Benito High School's track. "You've seen too much suffering. We've all lost too many people we love.
"We must fight back."
And they had. To that, many residents in the bleachers who had battled cancer, who had seen loved ones succumb to death, who had survived its fateful path, stood up and cheered. As of Saturday's noon ending to the 10th annual Hollister Relay for Life - themed "Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back - the local fundraiser had garnered $162,000 so far this year.
It was well earned, though, as many participants started the 24-hour walk at noon Friday - a beginning, but in reality, a year's culmination to months of hard work by locals who've joined millions elsewhere in raising money for cancer research through Relay for Life.
Johnson also had noted how the "Fight Back" portion of Hollister's Relay had been deemed the "most successful" of any this year in the Silicon Valley and Bay Area.
Others spoke, too.
"The support is overwhelming when you get involved," said Hope Beltran, who had noted several family members affected by cancer. "We are making a difference."
She emphasized how people "need to keep fighting."
"Someone called us a cancer family," she said. "Maybe we are labeled that. But you know what? We're not going to stop. We're going to fight it."
Those who stayed until the fundraiser's end also were treated to a surprise by organizers - a performance by the Taiko Drummers of Morgan Hill. They played and performed before the ending speeches and then during the final lap taken by the entire group.
The $162,000 raised so far, which should get a bump from remaining dollars not yet counted, is slightly down from 2007.
By the numbers
44 miles - How far Mayor Doug Emerson walked at the Relay this year
$162,000 - Amount raised so far this year
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