CHESAPEAKE — The small round metal campaign button pinned on the collar of Angela Midkiff’s shirt said it all — “I relay for my husband.”

Midkiff lost her husband, Darrell, to esophageal cancer on Oct. 6, 2009, her birthday. He was 49 years old.

“He fought it for 11 months and one day,” Midkiff said as she was setting up her Relay for Life team booth at the Chesapeake High School’s football field Friday night.

All around the high school parking lot were signs with statistics like “9.6 million Americans are cancer survivors.” But for Midkiff that wasn’t how it turned out for her husband.

This was the second year for Midkiff to lead a team of friends and family called Step for Life to raise money for cancer research.

“This is what I have left,” she said.

With just a half-hour before the Relay was to start, Step for Life had raised $600 for the American Cancer Society.

Nearby employees from ResCare Home Care in Ironton were blowing up balloons they planned to sell to bring in extra money for their Care for a Cure team.

“We do 10 community service projects a year,” Rebecca Miller, team captain, said. “We started this last year and hope to do it each year. My dad passed away from cancer and I have skin cancer. It is something near and dear to our hearts.”

By the end of the event noon Saturday that team was one of the leaders bringing in $5,274 from selling candy bars to getting sponsors to offering chances on carnival games.

“We had so many sponsors,” Miller said. “Businesses have been so wonderful giving money or gift cards.”

This year’s Relay pulled in about $1,000 more than last year’s with a total at $101,401.

“It was great,” Melanie Kerstetter, Lawrence County Relay chair, said right after the Relay. “Everybody had a great time.”

Relay for Life is a nationwide event that has its roots in the efforts of one man, Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Washington State who wanted to help raise money for the cancer society office in his hometown of Tacoma. For 24 hours straight he ran the track at a local university taking in more than 83 miles. Friends would give $25 to run or walk with him for a half-hour through the night. That unique marathon raised $27,000.

That run led to the first team relay event in 1985. Now Relays are a part of most communities’ spring fundraisers.

Kelli Fryer’s inspiration to join a local team — Friends for Life — was a friend who beat childhood cancer. Plus she wanted to set an example for her 13-year-old daughter, Acrista.

“People do survive,” Fryer said. “And I wanted my daughter to be involved. So she could experience giving back.”

Top team fundraisers were Faithful Fighters from Ironton bringing in $28,000 and Symmes Valley schools at $25,928. Ridge Runners from the Chesapeake-Proctorville area raised $9,870. And the Megan Filkins Rookie Award to a first-time team went to Two Causes-One Stone from Ironton that brought in $4,034.

“It was wonderful, wonderful,” Kerstetter said. “Everybody did really great.”