Team OSBC Participates in Relay for Life
On June 2nd and 3rd, 2006, eight OSBC employees, their family, and friends walked in the 15th 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 held outside and participants walk around the stadium track.
For the third year in a row, 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, Amy Atkinson, Alan Rice, 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 2nd to 7 a.m. on the 3rd. As part of their fund-raising activities, the group hosted an office "picnic" which featured hot dogs and all the trimmings, created a basket (with a gardening theme) for the Relay silent auction, and sold purple "Hope" wristbands and purple magnetic ribbon signs. Additionally, the team collected donations and sold 50 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 around the football field and a special luminary ceremony displayed the luminary names on a large screen. Over $147,000 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 13 teams reaching the Bronze level, six reaching Silver ($3,000), three reaching Gold ($5,000), one reaching Platinum ($10,000) and, for the first time at the Topeka Relay, one team reached the Diamond level of $25,000. Corporate sponsorship also plays a vital role in the Relay's activities and fund raising. Topeka banks, Heritage Bank and Commerce Bank, were among the 34 corporate sponsors of this year's event.
