AUBURN – The American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life celebrates the lives of hundreds of local residents who have survived cancer, while offering the hope of finding a cure.

To honor the strength and courage of cancer survivors, all area survivors are invited to unite in a “Victory Lap” followed by a survivor reception at the Relay For Life event at the Edward Little High School track on Friday, June 15. The lap will take place after the opening ceremony at 6 p.m.

In an effort to ease the bottleneck of survivor registration at the relay, the survivor dinner will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, in the Edward Little High School cafeteria. T-shirts, sashes and medals will be distributed at the pre-event.

The Relay For Life event on Friday and Saturday, June 15 and 16, is an all-night community event bringing together teams of families, friends, religious groups, neighborhoods and businesses – all with the goal of curing cancer in the new millennium. Teams of walkers keep a continuous presence on the track throughout the night, walking in shifts to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

Dollars raised during Relay For Life help support American Cancer Society research, education, advocacy and patient services. Programs include Reach to Recovery, providing one-on-one support for breast cancer patients; and resource centers, offering comfortable settings to research cancer information via computers, books and videos. Relay For Life also helps maintain the American Cancer Society’s toll-free 24-hour cancer information line at 1-800-ACS-2345.

Relay For Life is a handicapped-accessible event. To find out how to get involved or to volunteer, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345, online at www.relayforlife.org, or contact Sally Davis, Relay For Life event chairwoman, at 225-5767.