Harlem ready for 2008 relay

The Harlem Woman's Club looked like the set of a rodeo as the city's Relay for Life committee kicked off the three-month fundraising season under the theme Harlem is Roundin' Up a Cure.

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"We're ready to relay, to round up that cure," Jean Dove, the event chairwoman, said at the recent event.

The city's seventh annual relay is slated for April 18-19 at the Harlem High School football field and track.

Dove said the goal for this year's relay is to raise $50,000 and have 12 teams and 50 cancer survivors participate.

The relay has raised about $350,000 for the American Cancer Society in its six years, including a record $63,000 in 2006.

Denise Knoeferl, the captain of the Harlee's Angels team, said she and her family are active because of her daughter, 3-year-old Harlee, who was diagnosed in December 2004 with neuroblastoma, a common form of childhood cancer.

An informational meeting for team captains will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 18 at Harlem City Hall. Anyone interested in forming a team can attend.

Like the night of the relay when team members walk all night to signify the never-ending fight against cancer, teams will be out in the community holding fundraisers and other events to raise money for the cancer society, said event co-chairwoman Doris Belcher.

"There will be no sitting until we find a cure for cancer," Belcher said.

For more information, visit online at www.relayforlife.org, or call the Harlem City Hall administrative annex at (706) 556-0043, or the American Cancer Society at (800) ACS-2345.