Killeen Relay is a SUCCESS!

Last night was the Killeen, TX Relay For Life! It was the first Relay of 2010 that I am participating in. It was a huge success!
We had 139 teams, 1518 participants and raised $176, 111!
I left my camera at home and didn't realize it until I was almost to Killeen, so unfortunately I have no photos to show you.
The Killeen quilt brought in $300! Amazing! And I believe this will be the lowest amount brought in on the 3 quilts. The Waco one is already at $435 and we still have until October to raise money for that! That doesn't include the $50 we made off of the photo cube, which brings the total to $485 raised for Waco! And then there is Gatesville which has already brought in $72 off of it's quilt and I just started selling tickets for that!
That means we have raised $857 so far! This is wonderful!
Now let me tell you some highlights from last night. First off it didn't rain. Which was a miracle from God because it was definitely forecasted for rain.
And the 1518 participants? That was just actual team members. It didn't include all the visitors who weren't on a team. At 7:00pm when the kickoff and survivor walk was occurring, there were a line of cars in the parking lot looking for parking spaces. You could see the line went on FOREVER!
And the survivor walk! What can I say? I walked the first lap as a 23 year survivor. Slowly, but I made it. The walking I have been doing helped prepare me for this. I was huffing and puffing but I made it.
And just as I got back to my seat, along came a survivor with a friend walking the track. She was walking slowly with a walker. It took her a LONG time to get around the track. But let me tell you she put us all to shame. She did it with STYLE! She would stop every once and awhile and do a little dance, she sang along with the music and she was so cute I just wanted to run to the track and hug her.
This Relay's survivor's lap was different. They had the survivors line up on the track. Just behind them, facing the opposite way, was the caregivers. When the survivors got around the track they were met by the caregivers, who then joined them on the next lap.
The first 3 survivors leading the lap were small children. I still tear up when I think about how sweet they looked.
Speaking of tears, there were lots of them. But there were also lots of smiles! Lots of "way to gos" and "you're doing great!".
Their luminary ceremony isn't held until around midnight. After being at the track from 3:30 until 9:30 I had to call it a night. A migraine sent me home and since I had to drive an hour in the dark, I decided to not let it get any worse before I headed home.
But it was so much fun! They had a national RFL photographer out there and he took a picture of our campsite, which was made up of my new double lawn chair with umbrella set, the quilt hanging from the umbrella and a table with our sign on it.
Maybe in the new RFL promos, you will see me!
If you have never been to a Relay For Life, I encourage you to find one in your area and GO! It is fun and will inspire you!
Now onto June 26 and the Gatesville Relay!
And speaking of the Gatesville Relay, the quilt is going to be featured in tomorrow's Gatesville Messenger. Be sure to check back here for the link!