By Lynne Napton

Staff writer

news@murphymonitor.com

The Relay For Life of Wylie/Sachse/Murphy will hold its kick off event on Jan. 12. The BBQ will be held from 12-2 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Wylie in the gymnasium and fellowship hall.

“We are expecting about 300 people like we had at last year's Kick Off, but we would love to see a bigger turn out. We are expecting more than 1,100 participants for the Relay For Life event on May 10,” Event Chair for the American Cancer Society's 2013 Relay For Life of Wylie/Sachse/Murphy Sharon Brannick said.

The event will feature a raffle with a $100 Walmart gift card donated by Mikey’s Signs and a $50 Steak Kountry gift card donated by Steak Kountry.

The day of the kick off is also the last day that teams can register at the reduced early bird team fee of $30. After the event, the registration fee will go up to $50.

“The Kick Off event on Saturday is to celebrate the start of our 6th Relay For Life. BBQ will be provided by one of our sponsors, Bold BBQ, as a thank you for the support from our community. We invite everyone to come out on Saturday to get information about The American Cancer Society's Relay For Life and how to join us as we fight back against cancer,” Brannick said. “Cancer has touched almost everyone of us and as a community we can come together to celebrate our cancer survivors and caregivers, to remember our loved ones lost to cancer, and to fight back against cancer. One way to do that is by participating in a Relay For Life which is a 12-hour, over night event in which teams walk the track as we celebrate, remember, and fight back.”

Relay For Life 2013 will be held on May 10 at 6 p.m. at Shaffer Stadium, 516 Hilltop Ln in Wylie.

For more information visit www.relayforlife.org.