PROCTORVILLE — The Lawrence County chapter of Relay For Life held its annual kick-off meeting on Tuesday.

Relay For Life is an organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness for those battling cancer. During the meeting Relay For Life event chair Danielle Wellman explained how the groups fundraising efforts worked and what they still needed to do before the main event in May.

“Right now we only have two teams registered,” Wellman said. “Last year I think we had 17. So we need help on the committee with logistics and trying to get more teams together.”

The meeting was also used as a platform for Relay committee members to discuss their personal experiences with cancer and their motivation for being a part of Relay. Some shared tales of their own battle with the disease while others told of friends and relatives who they had lost to the illness.

“I lost my grandfather to cancer,” Becky McClelland told the group. “I watched my best friend battle breast cancer for five years.”

As others told their stories, eyes welled up with tears and voices cracked. One constant theme resonated by those in attendance. That theme wasn’t the cancer itself; it was the importance of family.

“It’s very much a family thing,” McClelland said. “It reaches out and touches so many people. Every family can be hit by it and those are the people you lean on.”

Relay For Life’s main event will take place from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds. For more information on how to participate in the event visit relayforlife.org/lawrencecounty or check the group’s Facebook page.