craigdailypress.com

Standing in line for pancakes and sausage about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, 47-year-old Sylvia Whiffen was tired, but not down.

"My feet are hurting, but other than that, I'm good," she said with a smile.

Others might not have been so chipper after walking a quarter-mile track for hours upon hours between dusk to dawn.

Whiffen, however, walked with a purpose.

"I know a few people that passed on," she said.

The second annual Craig Relay for Life - an American Cancer Society fundraiser that asks people to walk an all-night vigil because cancer never sleeps - attracted about 800 people, event co-chair Yvonne McAnally said.

"We had a lot of people last night," she said. "We are just so thankful and thrilled that the town has accepted us like this and come out to participate."

The community's participation exceeded all expectations, McAnally said.

"Our goal was $65,000, but we had a personal goal to honor the Centennial to get $100,000," McAnally said. "We ended up over $101,000."

About $6,444 of the total $101,390.46 raised was from the silent auction, another aspect Relay volunteer Shannon Samuelson credited to the community.

Samuelson, who organized the auction, said it was only a matter of asking and then local businesses and residents were willing to donate auction items.

"Really, everybody was and is very generous," she said. "That says a lot about the community. I'm just excited we raised so much money."

Samuelson added she wants to keep going and hopes to be involved with the Relay committee next year.

Relay organizers also will accept donations through August 31.

Residents can call McAnally at 326-8346 or event co-chair Elisa Hayes at 629-5919 for more information.

Hayes, who chaired last year's event committee, said the second Craig Relay was very different from the first.

"There was more participation, more funds raised, more sponsors, larger community involvement," she said. "This Relay, in part, we would consider community-driven. It went off effortlessly. Not a single thing went wrong."

Hayes said she wasn't surprised the community held onto the event from last year.

"When you have something that impacts so many people, they're more willing to participate because it touches them," she said.

Hayes feels that same pull, she added.

"I relay in honor of my sister, and everybody here has their own stories," she said.

Hayes would not accept credit for the event's success, instead deferring to the roughly 75 volunteers that pitched in and the other community members that donated time and money.

"If you find yourself a dedicated (planning) committee, you can reach any goal you set," she said. "It's a testament to Craig that the community was, again, so involved and so accepting for the Relay."