This year’s Franklin County Relay for Life brought in strong fundraising results, even as organizers saw changes in participation. The event, held in September, raised just over $64,000, successfully meeting its fundraising goal.
While financial support remained strong, Sheri Bogue, Chair of Coaches vs. Cancer in Franklin County and past Chair of the Relay for Life, says fewer people attended the event in person and adds that participation on the day of Relay for Life has declined in recent years.
“The only thing that was disappointing about the event in ’25 is that the lack of people coming out to the event. Some of that could have been the changes of moving it from July to September, but we’ve noticed over the past several years a decline in participation on the day of the event. As normal, everybody’s just really busy.”
Because of those challenges, Bogue says changes are coming to Relay for Life in Franklin County. A wrap up meeting regarding this year’s relay was held in October and Bogue says the decision has been made to move forward differently.
“From that meeting, we came to the conclusion that due to lack of people coming to the event and spending the day with us, that if we didn’t get more volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to continue the way that we have because it’s just too hard for people to do. We set December 1st as a deadline and that now has come and gone and the decision unfortunately has been made that Relay for Life in Franklin County as we know it is now going to change. I’m not sure what those changes are going to be yet because some of that is still a work in progress.”
Bogue says they will continue with fundraising efforts throughout the year. One of those efforts will be the annual Coaches vs. Cancer event, scheduled for January 24th. The event will feature a full day of boys and girls basketball between West Fork and Hampton-Dumont-CAL. West Fork, the host school this year, is planning activities for the entire day, including a silent auction, a soup supper and family-friendly events.
