Community Corner

'We Must Stop This Beast,' Says Daughter of Cancer Victim

"I'm standing in front of you here tonight to say we must stop this beast," Stephanie Archer told a crowd of more than 100 Saturday night at Relay for Life of Imperial Beach after sharing the story of her mother's ordeal with cancer.

"This is a devastating disease and until you walk through it with a loved one you do not realize the impact it has and how many lives it actually affects," she said.

Her mother Shanna Berry died of cancer in April, she said.

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Archer was one of about 300 people who took part in Relay for Life at Mar Vista High School in IB Saturday and Sunday to have fun, celebrate life and raise money to research cancer and support programs that assist those afflicted with the disease.

While raising money and remembering loved ones, participants also had fun with potato golf, the Electric Slide, rave and chicken dance-themed laps.

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About a dozen bands played music ranging from jazz to rock to reggae to keep people walking. Some of the bands that played Saturday dedicated songs to Sam Dell Gilley Jr., who died the day before.

Some of the 500 luminarias for cancer victims used to line the track Saturday night were lit just for Gilley Jr.

Earlier that morning, 12-year-old Jose Montano had walked laps, relay manager Eddie Samaniego said. When the preteen had been approached by the Make-A-Wish Foundation last year, instead of choosing something for himself, Jose chose a new playground for his Berry Elementary School classmates.

Relay for Life started with one man in Washington in 1985. Today thousands of fundraisers are held around the nation every year.

As of 9 p.m. Saturday before luminarias were lit, the local organization and 26 teams participating in the 24-hour walk-a-thon had raised more than $27,000 to support the American Cancer Society (ACS) and local survivors.

This year the team is shooting for $30,000. Last year Relay for Life of Imperial Beach raised $17,000, Samaniego said.

"One thing I can say is we've been working on trying to get the event going for the last five years," he said. "So it was good to walk into the event having already met goal."

Now in its fifth year, this year the theme was carnival.

Miraim Montes was one of 30 cancer survivors who took the first lap Saturday morning.

Montes was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 and again in March. Part of the Mar Vista High School Class of 1987, Montes knows friends who she went to high school with who were diagnosed with cancer and others who lost the fight.

When she was first diagnosed, an ACS volunteer and cancer survivor came to her house to tell her what to expect when she went through chemotherapy and treatment.

"It helped hearing it from a survivor themselves instead of what an oncologist tells you," she said.

She also got help from the ACS Look Good-Feel Good program where estheticians help a cancer patient prepare to wear wigs, apply make up and cosmetic tips.

ACS volunteers can also bring chemotherapy patients to appointments.

Montes will attend four Relay for Life fundraisers across San Diego's South Bay this year including others in Chula Vista, National City and San Ysidro, she said.

She goes to so many relays because cancer works every day of the year so I can work all-day a few times a year, Montes said. She also likes to talk to others fighting cancer.

"If I can inspire or help somebody, why not?" she said.

Teams are often named after cancer survivors or victims. 

The top fundraiser in Imperial Beach was All Night for the Fight, who brought in more than $8,000.

Team Warren Walkers was named after Frank Warren who died of brain cancer a few years ago, his son Matt said. He was diagnosed around Valentine's Day and died nine months later.

"We want to hopefully get rid of cancer and if we can't we want to make it easier for everyone else," Matt said.

Before his death Frank was an Imperial Beach Little League coach for about a decade. Both his sons Matt and Ryan were part of the team as well some of the kids he coached. 

The team raised about $1,000 before the event by reaching out to friends and family then spent two to three hours before the start of the relay Saturday setting up their booth where they sold candy, food and sock monkeys.

One person even stopped by and gave a $100 donation.

"It's amazing how generous people have been," said Frank's wife Rae Lynn Warren.


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