NATCHEZ — The Miss-Lou Relay for Life event raised approximately $39,000 Friday night, which topped 2015’s evening total.

Relay co-chair Janis Holder said at this point, the grand total raised for the year is approximately $136,000, which meets this past year’s fundraising through Relay night.

Holder said teams have until Aug. 31 to continue raising money, and last year another approximately $30,000 was brought in before deadline.

“Each year, we try to match what we have done in the years before, so hopefully we will get another $30,000,” she said. “Some teams for one reason or another have not turned in their money yet, and other teams still have fundraiser events planned.”

Relay for Life, which was at the Concordia Recreational District 3 complex Friday, raises funds to support cancer research and raising awareness so a cure can be found.

Since 1995 when the first Relay for Life was hosted in the Miss-Lou, the event has raised $3,234,373.89 for cancer research, which puts it in the top 10 nationally, Holder said.

“Cancer affects people of all ages, gender and race,” she said. “Each year, someone you least expect gets cancer, and it brings it home to the community.

“This year, it was a 4-year-old from Monterey.”

Holder said it was a tragedy Aiden Taunton, someone so young, could get cancer. It is a tragedy when anyone is diagnosed with cancer, she said, but Taunton’s diagnosis was particularly troubling given his age.

“We do what we can (raising funds) for cancer research to keep someone else’s 4-year-old child, or parent or sister or brother, from hearing those words,” Holder said. “Cancer is a horrible word to hear at any age.”

This year, 43 teams participated in the fundraising efforts and 31 teams were on-site Relay night. Some of those teams took home awards from event organizers for their contribution to the annual event.

 

The 2015 Relay for Life awards were:

 Best T-shirt

1 — Riverland Medical Center

2 — Celebrate Recovery of the Miss-Lou

3 — Delta Bank

 

Best Spirit

1 — Vidalia Apparel/Fruit of the Loom

2 — Vidalia Police Department

3 — Team Metro

 

Best Banner

1 — Adams County Correctional Facility

2 — Team Educators

3 — Home Bank

 

Best Baton

1 — Glenburney Nursing Home

2 — United Mississippi Bank

3 — Adams County Nursing Home

 

Best Tent Site

1 — Team Metro

2 — Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office

3 — Concordia Delta Longbeards

 

Best Luminaria Bags

1 — Celebrate Recovery of the Miss-Lou

2 — Team Metro

3 — Concordia Bank and Trust Company

 

Most Money Raised by Team

1 — Team Markets, $30,151.20

2 — Concordia Bank and Trust Company, $7,899.42

3 — Team BOB/Body of Believers, $7,752.

 

Most Money Raised by Individual

1 — Monelle Moseley, $2,590

2 — Betty Lindeman, $1,100

3 — Lillian Edney, $1,000