Relaying for the benefit of several lives

Suzie Harrison

Though cancer affects far too many people every year, there is still

a need to get the word out and raise funds to find a cure. That’s

where the American Cancer Society comes in with its Relay for Life.

Laguna will host its third annual relay this weekend at El Morro

Elementary School.

Event chair Penny Svenson said so far the 39 Laguna Beach teams

have raised more than $173,000 by Wednesday, and that number will

climb by the end of the event Saturday.

Last year there were only nine teams, and their goal was to just

spread the word basically and to raise as much as they could. She

said Laguna event co-chair Michelle Struss’ team has been doing a

phenomenal job in the fundraising aspect and is in second place with

just under $20,000 raised as of Wednesday.

Struss was the reason Svenson originally got involved in Laguna’s

Relay for Life three years ago.

“I’ve had the same team name for three years with 25 people on my

team this year,” Struss said.

She said the event has grown and at least three members from her

team, Friends and Family, last year have formed their own team.

“This year I had to recruit new team members,” Struss said. She

got help from her sister Stephanie Swain who lives in San Diego.

Laguna friend Laura Keller is also on the team, and she recruited

more team members. One team member is coming from Minnesota and

another from Pasadena.

Struss had to deal with cancer when her mom, who was a single

mother, passed away 15 years ago from a brain tumor.

“I was 20 years old and my sister and I were caring for my mom,”

Struss said. “It was almost a year that we had been caring for her

when we found out about some of the services the American Cancer

Society provides.”

Cancer has affected Struss again.

“A week and a half ago, ironically, I found out my step-mom has

cancer, she has been with my dad for 25 years and we’re very close,”

Struss said.

She said the momentum the Relay has taken on this year has far

exceeded her and Svenson’s expectation.

“I don’t have the words ... there are still three days until the

event and we have the potential to double what our goal was,” Struss

said. They are hoping to top $200,000. Laguna Beach-based Team

Strada, lead by Michael Gosselin, is currently in first place,

raising $22,315.

The relay will start at 6 p.m. today, and will continue through 6

p.m. Saturday at El Morro Elementary School, 8681 N. Coast Highway.

To find out more information, or to get involved call, Michelle

Struss at (949) 494-3669 or Penny Svenson at (949) 494-0512.