Relay for Life participants kick-start annual cancer-fighting event with “First Lap” at NHS

The Northport Relay for Life got a kick start this past Friday, January 31, as team members participating in the annual event took their “first lap” at Northport High School. 

The Northport Relay for Life is a chapter in The American Cancer Society Relay for Life movement, the world’s largest peer-to-peer fundraising event dedicated to saving lives from cancer, and helping those affected by the disease. The Northport-East Northport school district and community have long been large contributors to the event’s success; raising nearly 2.5 million dollars in the fight against cancer since beginning their relay in 2009.

The January event was meant to shine light on the Northport community’s upcoming event and encourage earlier registration and even more fundraising, Karen Paquet, team captain for Caleb’s Cowboys, told the Journal. Paquet’s eldest son Caleb passed away from a rare form of leukemia in August 2017. She’s been participating in the Relay for Life movement ever since, and has become one of the local effort’s most vocal spokespeople. 

The 2025 Northport Relay for Life event is scheduled for Saturday, June 7 at Northport High School. Organizers are trying to make the event larger and more in line with pre-Covid events of the past, Paquet said, with monthly fundraising challenges and other Relay traditions starting now. “With more hands involved, the work will be lighter,” she said. 

Leading the work this year are Northport High School Relay for Life Club Co-Presidents Anthony Shah and Donovan Fischer, whose brother Aidan, a NHS 2019 graduate, has been battling leukemia since 2021. 

Those interested in the June 7 event can register their own team, join a neighbor’s team, or support the teams currently listed on the Northport Relay for Life website. A daffodil fundraiser, with proceeds benefiting The American Cancer Society, is taking place through February 18. 

Planning committees and future participation meetings will include representatives from every school in the Northport-East Northport district, with opportunities to support individual school and team efforts. 

The public is welcome to join in on the June 7 event, which runs from 5pm to 5am, and will include bands, a DJ, games, food and numerous vendors. As the sun sets, luminaria bags decorated and dedicated to loved ones touched by cancer will light up the high school track. (Bags can be purchased for $10 each in honor, memory or support of someone with cancer.) Team members walk the track throughout the evening and into the early morning to celebrate cancer survivors, remember those they’ve lost and fight back against cancer together.

Information on the daffodil fundraiser can be found here. For more information on the Northport Relay for Life event, to register a team, purchase a luminaria or donate to the event, click here. Follow the Northport-East Northport community’s ongoing Relay for Life efforts on Instagram and Facebook.