Evesham Mayor Jackie Veasy and township council once again offered a proclamation at a recent meeting to recognize the upcoming Wear Orange Weekend and Gun Violence Awareness Month in June.
Council also cited the upcoming Relay For Life fundraiser sponsored by the American Cancer Society . The proclamation asks that township residents, businesses and other groups join the fight against gun violence and keep public spaces safe.
Wear Orange Weekend starts each year on the first Friday in June – this year on the 7th – and continues through Sunday. The proclamation was accepted by the local chapter of Moms Demand Action, a group that advocates solutions to the problem of gun violence.
Ron “Woody” Woodmansee, a representative for Relay for Life, explained that the goal of the nonprofit is to focus attention on cancer victims and survivors.
“Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s largest fundraiser,” he explained. “We started it here in Marlton about 14 years ago, and basically it’s a fundraising party. Everyone has been touched by cancer; most of us on the committee are survivors, and what we do is honor and remember cancer survivors and their caregivers.”
The fundraiser is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, at the Blue Barn, 1040 Tuckerton Road, on the M2 soccer field. The event will go on all day and will include a cancer survivor luncheon.
“Basically walk the track for about eight hours,” Woodmansee noted of the fundraiser. “That’s because the theory is that cancer never sleeps, so everybody from the team is walking the entire time.”
Woodmansee added that the event has raised about $1.5 million in the last 12 years.
“A lot of people don’t know that,” he said. “We merged with Medford and Mount Laurel about three years ago, and our job as a committee is to promote it, talk about it and make the event happen.”
Veasy cited the township’s five-year relationship with the American Cancer Society, part of the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign.
“Relay For Life has become one of our signature events for the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign,” Veasy pointed out. “Our healthy town status is part of our Mayor’s Wellness Campaign, and it works towards educating the community on cancer research and Relay For Life.
“It’s a partnership with the American Cancer Society that we host Relay For Life here in Evesham,” the mayor added. “We’re very proud of it, and we survived through COVID because of the support of the township.”
For more information on Moms Demand Action, visit momsdemandaction.org. To participate in the Relay For Life event or to donate, go to www.relayforlife.org/marltonnj.
