The Clinton County Relay For Life Committee met again on Monday evening, October 6 at the Early Childhood Center and continued making plans for future fundraisers, setting goals and attempting to bring together more teams and sponsors to raise money locally for the ongoing fight against cancer, a disease that has touched thousands of lives in one way or another right here in Albany and Clinton County.

October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month nationwide and locally, Albany IGA is selling pink ribbons to be displayed in its store window with proceeds benefitting the local Relay For Life’s cancer fight.

During the meeting Trish Miller was chosen to be the Clinton County Event Leader, which was formerly known as chairperson, with the stipulation that due to her busy schedule, she would receive a lot of support from other committee members.

Two representatives of a new team from Grider Hill Dock was also in attendance at Monday night’s meeting–which also saw an impromptu tornado warning being issued for the county while the meeting was ongoing.

Adam Smedberg, RLS Western Division leader once again chaired the meeting and asked about any future fundraisers being planned locally prior to the end of the calendar year.

He noted that Somerset Community College-Clinton Campus was planning a couple of events, including the Cosmetology Department doing a Paint Your Nails Pink fundraiser for October during the Breast Cancer Awareness month. SCC is apparently also planning an upcoming chili dinner fundraiser as well.

There have already been some successful fundraising over the months, including “Pink-Out” nights at CCHS in both football and volleyball. There will also be pink-out nights during the upcoming basketball season at both the high school and middle school with those dates to be announced later and the Relay For Life committee will have a booth set up at next weekend’s Foothills Festival.

The committee also began reviewing returning teams, in which there are seven from last year. The committee hopes to almost double the amount that will be participating and taking part in next spring’s actual Relay For Life event. Also they are recruiting more corporate and business sponsorships. Sponsorships, which include various advertisements at Relay events and being recognized on the event website, range from $250 to $1,500.00.

In 2014, Clinton County’s Relay For Life collected some $51,000 but with added teams, sponsors and fundraising events, they have set the 2015 goal at $55,000.

The committee also set regular meeting dates through January of next year, beginning with this month. The committee will begin meeting the last Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m. (with the exception of December when they will not meet) at the ECC, with the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, October 28 at 5 p.m. Anyone interested in getting involved with Relay For Life, including possibly forming a team, are encouraged to attend.