Team OSBC Participates in Relay for Life
On June 3rd and 4th, 2005, seven OSBC employees, their family, and friends walked in the 14th Annual Shawnee County Relay for Life held at Hayden High School. The Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society's signature activity. It unites millions of people in thousands of communities nationwide each year to raise money to help prevent cancer, save lives, and diminish suffering from the disease. It is the largest nonprofit fund-raising event in the world. The event is normally held outside and participants walk around the stadium track. However this year, stormy weather forced the walkers inside to the gymnasium.
Team OSBC (Office Staff Beating Cancer) raised more than $1,500 for the cause. Team members from the OSBC were Dana Hampton (Co-Captain), Mari Tucker (Co-Captain), JoAnne Minihan, Judi Stork, Julie Tipton, Richelle Williams, Pierre Sutphin, John Gibbons, Jim Payne and Glen Caspers. During the Relay, team members chose time slots and walked in shifts throughout the 12 hour period from 7 p.m. on the 3rd to 7 a.m. on the 4th. As part of their fund-raising activities, the group created a Fiscal Year 2005 - 2006 calendar and sold them for $5.00 each. The calendars featured photos of various segments of the OSBC staff as well as landscape photos from the regional offices throughout the state. Other fund raising activities included an office "picnic" which featured hot dogs and all the trimmings, the donation of two baskets (one for CAT LOVERS and one for DOG LOVERS) for the Relay silent auction, and the sale of purple "Hope" wristbands. Additionally, the team collected donations and sold 59 luminaries. Luminaries are white paper bags which are decorated in honor of cancer survivors or in memory of cancer victims. During the Relay, the bags were displayed on the gymnasium floor and a special luminary ceremony displayed the luminary names on a large screen. Over $140,000 was raised by the 63 teams participating in this year's Relay in Topeka. Team OSBC was one of 24 teams that received special recognition for their level of donations. Each team member was awarded a Bronze pin signifying their team raised more than $1,500. There were 14 teams reaching the Bronze level, six reaching Silver ($3,000), three reaching Gold ($5,000) and one reaching Platinum ($10,000). The team is shooting for Silver next year!
