Relay for Life readies for 2025 campaign with first big contribution | News | clevelandbanner.com

Nov 11, 2024

The 2024 Bradley County Relay For Life raised just over $170,000, and plans are now to exceed that total next year. Organizers Thursday night learned they are already off to a great start with the announcement of a very special donation.

The Olive Branch hosted The Relay For Life Roundup and Celebration Dinner, which was appropriately named as it served as a celebration of raising $170,241 during the 2024 campaign, but also as a tease to the coming campaign’s theme.

“Our theme for the 2025 Relay is ‘Let’s Wrangle Cancer,’ “ said campaign chairman Dewayne Belew before belting out a “Yee Haw.” He added the Relay For Life next year will be held on Saturday, May 3, in downtown Cleveland.

The Olive Branch serving as a host for the dinner was also appropriate as owner Robbie Cody announced a $25,000 contribution to the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. Cody’s wife Shelli was a past chair for the Relay, who succumbed to lymphoma on Dec. 27, 2023 after defeating breast cancer 21 years earlier.

Cody read one of his wife’s notes from Oct. 24, 2013, about how she was thankful to God for at the time her 11 years of extra life, and how He brought “some normalcy” back to her life. Though she wrote she was not living her life as a “cancer survivor,’ but as a survivor period, and began making plans with her husband which eventually led to their business — Companion Funeral and Cremation Services — and the Olive Branch event center.

Cody also said his dream of putting a pipe organ in at the center, which is the former home of the Clingan Ridge Baptist Church, will come to fruition soon, and when that occurs, he plans on having an open house concert there with proceeds going to the Relay for Life.

With the donation being announced, the 2025 campaign for the Bradley County Relay For Life officially began, but there were still awards to be presented for the successful 2024 campaign.

Several of the teams who participated in the 2024 Relay were present at the dinner, which saw the trophy for most funds raised going to Wesley Memorial Church/Wesley Cornerstone, which raised approximately $53,000 for the campaign.

“it's their second year in a row to win this trophy, and I heard them talking earlier. They dare people trying to knock them off. I don't know what that means exactly,” Belew said, while not revealing he was a member of that group, though everyone in attendance knew.

Others who were honored for their team efforts in most money raised included (first, second and third places): Medical — Bradley Medical Center, Tennessee Oncology, and Tennessee Valley Urology; New Team — Jackson Furniture Industries, Jan’s Journey and Team Mix; Corporate — Eaton Corporation, Olin Chemical, and Life Care Centers of America; Business — Jackson Furniture Industries, Cleveland Utilities and Peyton’s Southeastern; and Family and Friends — Avengers, Warriors Against Cancer, and Jan’s Journey.

“I stole a line from the president of ACS, because it really says a lot to me, that says, ‘Our purpose is to rid the world of cancer as we know it,’” Belew said. “I love the simplicity of that … rid the world of cancer as we know it.

“Now, as cowboys, we might say it differently — we might say “we’re fighting mad,’ and do what we can to meet that goal,” he added.

The “Let’s Wrangle Cancer” follows last year’s “International Festival of Hope,” where groups took different countries and based their teams on those cultures. This year will be more of the old west, and Belew said he expected several teams to take the reins and go wild with ideas.

It was also announced Thursday evening that the upcoming 5K Reindeer Run, sponsored by Peyton’s Southeastern and benefiting the Relay For Life, will be held on Dec. 14, at the Tinsley Park Pavilion. This will be the 13th annual event.

There will be more meetings leading up to the May Relay, and announcements will be made when those meetings are scheduled. To keep up with the 2025 campaign, visit www.relayforlife.org/bradleytn.

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