At the February 2, 2016 North Bend City Council Meeting, Mayor Ken Hearing and City Council members awarded Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life the 2015 Community Spirit Award.
“The Community Spirit Award is meant to be given to a special person or organization that has gone above and beyond to make North Bend a better place to live by their ongoing body of work within the community. We want to honor those who have shown through their initiative and actions that they truly care about the community and whose hard work, spirit and dedication make our community great.” said Mayor Ken Hearing.
The Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life was selected for their valley-wide efforts in the fight against cancer. Mayor Hearing noted the local organization had been active in the Snoqualmie Valley since 2001 when founded by Denise DuBose after losing her mother to a long battle with breast cancer. The organization’s first fundraising efforts in the fight against cancer brought in over $30,000.
Relay for Life is a part of the American Cancer Society, which since its founding in 1913 has worked relentlessly to save lives by finding cancer cures, getting well and staying well, and fighting back against the terrible disease. Relay for Life reaches more than 5,200 communities across 20 countries and is unique to each community.
Last year’s Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life event was held on July 11th and 12th at Torguson Park with over 320 participants. And because cancer never sleeps, teams camped out overnight during the event and took turns walking or running around the track for a full 18 hours while continuing their fundraising effort to find a cure.
Mayor Hearing noted that fundraising efforts such as these truly make a difference in the fight against cancer and for the nearly 14 million cancer survivors who will celebrate another birthday this year. The 2015 Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life raised over $74,000, bringing their total fundraising effort since 2001 to over one million dollars.
Mayor Hearing concluded the presentation by awarding the plaque to current Lead Chairperson Bev Jorgenson, who has been active with the organization since 2006. He noted that Bev has been instrumental in the success of Relay for Life in the Valley and thanked her for her efforts to help raise funds to find a cure and heal those in the community whose lives had been impacted by cancer.
