Relay for Life held at Fort Totten

Despite the threat of heavy rain from what remained of tropical depression Barry, 400 hardy volunteers gathered on the parade grounds at Fort Totten in Bayside, to help in the fight against Cancer.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) brought their “Relay for Life” (RFL) program back to Bayside for the June 2-3 event, during which teams of volunteers take turns walking a track to raise money.
According to Leslie Orlovsky, ACS organizer, over $63,000 was raised by the volunteers, many of whom were from the surrounding neighborhoods.
“I was particularly impressed by the Bayside High School football team, the ‘Commodores’ who were just phenomenal,” Orlovsky said. “They not only raised about $1,000, but they helped out and even put on a little show.” According to coach Justin T. Cobis, the team logged over 340 hours of community service at the event.
Baysiders were well-represented by Sylvia Johnson and her team, the “Bay Country Volunteers” who were the second-highest fundraisers of the event, collecting over $6,000 for cancer research.
The top fundraiser, Long Beach resident Catherine M. Safos and her team, which included her mother Cathy, raised over $17,000. The younger Safos personally added $14,000 to the fight against Cancer.
The concept is the brainchild of Dr. Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma, Washington surgeon. In 1985, he circled the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound for over 24 hours - running more than 83 miles, and raised $27,000 to fight cancer. Since then, RFL has raised more than $1.5 billion, with nearly 5,000 events scheduled to take place across the country this year.