Jackson County residents had an opportunity to raise funds to help find a cure for cancer through the 21st annual Relay for Life.

The five-hour fundraising event for the American Cancer Society was Friday night in Seymour High School’s Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

The decision was made this year to hold the event inside because of the inclement weather during previous Relays.

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Undeterred by the change, groups were encouraged to decorate and bring items to match the Disney-inspired theme of “Wish Upon a Cure.”

One booth, decorated as a tea party from Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland,” was set up by the Boozy Bookworms, a book and wine aficionado club and one of the 16 teams that registered and attended the event.

“We’ve all been touched by cancer. My mother is a survivor, and our members all know someone or have lost someone to cancer,” said Jenna Martinez, captain for the Boozy Bookworms.

Another group went with a fish theme from the movie “Finding Dory.” It was organized by Karen Kinser and Autumn Kinser.

“It’s all family. We’re all cousins in the group. We’ve all lost friends and family to cancer,” said Jessica Mosier, a member of the team.

The event allowed participants to meet cancer survivors and have fun together walking around the gym.

Survivors, both young and old, helped kick off the event with a survivors lap, followed by a caregivers lap and then a lap for anyone affected by cancer in any way.

Other special walks were planned around themes, including a backwards lap, a crazy hat lap, a hula-hoop lap, a parrot head lap and others.

“It makes me happy to see so many strong people, but then it breaks your heart to see young kids and people who have had to go through so much,” Martinez said.

Among the survivors in attendance were siblings Bryce Tormoehlen, 4, and Kinley Tormoehlen, 2.

Shane Tormoehlen, the children’s father, said the community has helped the family a bunch.

“It’s faith, family, friends and community that get you through,” he said.

Kinley was diagnosed soon after birth with Wilms tumor, a type of cancer that begins in the kidneys. She finished her treatment in January 2018.

Eight days after she had her medication port removed from her body, her brother was diagnosed with B cell, a type of leukemia.

Bryce has started the first of three years of treatment, and he underwent chemotherapy a day before Relay for Life.

Shane said he and his family support the American Cancer Society because they want to achieve the ultimate goal of ending cancer.

“They need funding, so we give, too,” he said. “It’s great to help them with research and hopefully find a cure, learn how to catch it sooner or prevent it altogether.”

Joan Shull, a 30-year survivor of cervical cancer, walked around the track looking for the luminary she had purchased for the event.

The small lighted decorations were available in honor or memory of someone with cancer for a $10 donation. They were placed on the floor and lit during a luminary service at 8 p.m.

Shull said the way cancer is treated has changed over the years, but she always recommends the same advice.

“Do what the doctor tells you to do and get checked every year,” she said.

Before this year’s Relay for Life, the 16 teams had collected more than $18,000. At the end of the night, more than $33,000 had been raised with money still coming in.

Last year, 20 teams worked together to raise $44,256 to donate to the research and programs handled by the American Cancer Society.

This year’s goal is to raise $50,000.

There were a few changes with the planning of this year’s event, chairwoman Melissa Rebber said.

In previous years, a coordinator with the American Cancer Society traveled to the counties to help plan and oversee events.

This year, however, a coordinator living in Michigan contacted Rebber by phone.

“It has been a lot of reorganizing, but it has been really good, a lot of adapting to situations,” Rebber said.