Teamwork used in fight against cancer





CANCER NEVER SLEEPS— Doug Lasater of Agoura Hills, right, has formed Team K.I.M. (Kim in Memoriam) to take part in the 10th annual Relay for Life at Willow Elementary School In Agoura Hills on April 26 and 27. Kim Lasater, above, died in 2012 at age 44 just 20 days after she was diagnosed with acute myloid leukemia.

CANCER NEVER SLEEPS— Doug Lasater of Agoura Hills, right, has formed Team K.I.M. (Kim in Memoriam) to take part in the 10th annual Relay for Life at Willow Elementary School In Agoura Hills on April 26 and 27. Kim Lasater, above, died in 2012 at age 44 just 20 days after she was diagnosed with acute myloid leukemia.

Organizers for the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life at Willow Elementary School in Agoura Hills are in full swing preparing for the 24-hour, walk-around-the-clock event April 26 to 27.

The community fundraiser is celebrating 10 years at Willow, and relay chair Jenni Campbell is pulling out all the stops to make the anniversary relay the most successful to date.

Money raised at the 24-hour relays supports cancer education and research.

After last year’s calendar clash with a second relay a week later at Agoura High School, Campbell is going full throttle to make sure this year’s event will inspire more people to form teams and more families to join in the fun.

“I know they want to come,” Campbell said of supporters. “We just need to remind the community that swarmed to us over the past 10 years that we are still here for them. We want to build 60 strong teams this year.”

So far 14 teams have been formed. Maria’s Italian Kitchen in Agoura Hills is joining the effort for the first time this year, and Campbell said Starbucks “is right beside us, as always.”

Campbell said this year’s theme, “Come Together . . . Be Brave” was inspired by a duet sung by Sara Bareilles and Carole King at this year’s Grammy Awards.

Besides forming 60 teams with 600 participants, Campbell outlined other goals she has for this year’s event.

She hopes that participants will line the track with 1,200 luminaria bags.

“That equates to 1,200 people who have fought or are fighting (cancer) being represented on our track,” she said. “We are asking that each of our team members sell, as their primary fundraiser, 20 luminaria each.”

Organizers are asking local shops and businesses to contribute a business card advertisement to the relay program at a cost of $100 per card.

Campbell is also talking to hair salon owners in the area. She wants hairstylists to attend the relay and cut hair to be donated to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program, which supplies wigs made from real hair to women who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment.

The group Love on a Leash, a nonprofit pet therapy organization, will kick off the event on Sat., April 26 with an opening lap for cancer survivors and caregivers.

A survivors’ lounge will feature a continental breakfast provided by David Catering. The lounge will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will offer activities and gift bags for families.

Team K.I.M.

One of the teams already formed, Team K.I.M., is being captained by Doug Lasater, an Agoura Hills resident whose wife, Kim, died in 2012 at the age of 44 just 20 days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

Lasater, 47, participated on the Gateway Foursquare Church team in 2013.

But this year he wanted to host his own team to focus on his wife. The team name, “K.I.M.” is his wife’s first name but also stands for “Kim In Memoriam” and “Keep It Moving,” he said.

While the goal of each relay team is to have a member on the track for 24 hours, Lasater has taken the suggestion to heart.

“I decided that if Kim could endure all that she did to fight for survival, then I could certainly put myself through one day of walking,” he said. “Last year I only walked for 22 hours because I was not sure of the actual start time and it concluded a little early the next day. This year I have set a goal to walk for the entire 24 hours.”

Last year Lasater covered over 39 miles. This year he plans to walk more than 52 miles during the 24-hour period.

“Kim is my inspiration, my reason for being involved in the first place, but every day someone gets the bad news,” Lasater said. “How many of us can pick 10 people in our lives and not find some form of cancer? Every day someone can’t hold on any more. Every day scientists and doctors are working to find a cure. If my walking can raise a little money, raise a little awareness, then every ache and pain and blister is worth it.”

Lasater has invited Kevin Fitzgerald of Northridge to join his team as a “pacer” to set the speed for the walkers.

Fitzgerald said he will use the 24-hour relay period to train as a pacer for a fellow runner in late May.

“For the Relay for Life I am planning to use this as a bit of a training effort for the run, although I will be using some of the time to practice my pacing skills,” Fitzgerald said.

“A pacer is not only someone who sets the running pace but also helps with every other aspect of the runner on the trail—lots of positive words or distracting stories and help with hydration and nutrition,” he said. “I am going to try to keep Doug and others motivated and on the loop for 24 hours and do some running as well.”

So far five people— all friends— have joined Team K. I. M. Lasater said his only requirement for people to join his team is that they must agree to walk 12 hours in the relay.

“Without trying very hard, I can count many people that have had some form of cancer,” Lasater said. “Just in the small group that I work with there are four just off the top of my head. That is about 1 in 5. Relay for Life is important in our community because it brings awareness and gives people a chance to contribute in a way other than just writing a check.”

Campbell loves the idea of people sticking to the goal of walking around the clock.

“Doug Lasater and many others will be walking in the wee hours of the night, because cancer never sleeps, so we don’t,” she said.

For more information on joining or forming a team in the Agoura Relay for Life, visit www.relayforlife.org/agouraca. To join Lasater’s team, email him at Doug4747@mac.com.


 

 

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