Preserving memories

The last five years have been special and meaningful to Linda Lawyer.

"I am a five-year survivor, and in January I got a good report," Lawyer said of her past battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Kim McClellan knows of Bill Smith's fight with lymphoma cancer.

"The doctors gave him two to four days to live four weeks ago, and he is fighting a great fight right now," McClellan said, "so it's pretty personal for me."

These are reasons Lawyer and McClellan have decided to help raise money for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. On March 29, the Indiana Bank & Trust Relay for Life team served as host of the Crop for a Cure scrapbooking event at the Community Foundation of Jackson County, which provided the building for the event at no cost.

McClellan is one of nine employees from the bank and two others who have formed a team, and Lawyer was among the several other supporters who joined in for a day of scrapbooking.

"I have never done Relay for Life," McClellan said. "I think cancer touches a lot of people's lives, as it has mine. Not only do I have family and friends, but I have one very special person right now that I'm doing this event for (Smith)."

Even though she's not part of the team, Lawyer said, "I always support it because I believe in the cause. Doctors say every day they come up with something new, new medicine, a new pill or something to prevent cancer."

Experiencing cancer herself, Lawyer said it's important to keep Relay for Life going.

"It makes you feel like you're helping others," she said, as those going through cancer depend on family and friends for support and encouragement.

Barb Grant, Judy Webster and Carol Wheeler were three other team members at the scrapbooking event. Webster said this is the first time for the bank to have a team, but she has been involved with Relay for Life before.

"It's something that really warms your heart to be able to help," she said. "It's about a community that takes up the fight. It usually is teams that work together, having fun, raising money and then all meeting together on the high school track on the night of the event and seeing the amount of money that can be raised walking in memory of and in honor of other people."

Webster said the bank has had a bake sale to raise funds as well, and Grant said they are planning another fundraiser Friday where they will sell sandwiches at Jay C Plus in Village Center on Seymour's east side.

All of those who brought their scrapbooking materials to work on March 29 had different reasons for being there.

"Supporting a local organization and cause like this is really important to me," Tonja Couch said. "A full day of scrapbooking is kind of a plus. It's a win-win for everyone, helping raise funds to make a difference."

"You can look at the pictures and the pictures tell a story."

Shepherd was putting old family pictures into her book.

"It leaves something, a story, for your family," she said. "It's a heritage that I'm leaving them."

Chris Gray of Seymour also had family members die from cancer. She was making a scrapbook for her daughter to keep.

"I started from the day she was born and I'm doing it in chronological order," Gray said.

Crystal Prewitt of Seymour provided some supplies for the event, as she is a consultant with Creative Memories. She also works for Indiana Bank & Trust.

"I've been fortunate that no one in my family has been affected by cancer," Prewitt said, "but I have friends who have friends who have been affected by cancer."

Prewitt's mother, Melvina Wooten of Grammar, was redoing her mother's scrapbooks.

"At home, I don't take the time to do it," she said. "I've been working on it for four years. It's good to get time to do scrapbooking and get time to give to a good organization. It helps me do what I need to do and help them do what they need to do."

Grant said her two daughters are into scrapbooking.

"It makes a good family time. You can sit and talk about events that happened," she said.

When it comes to Relay for Life, Grant said, "It's a very awesome thing. I lost my dad and sister to cancer. To see the Survivor Walk (at the Relay for Life on May 16) and see so many people who have survived the disease, that's awesome."

Crop for a Cure was an overall good fundraiser.

"I think every one of us has someone special in our mind when we're here working on this, and we just feel very fortunate to have the chance to do this and have a team within our workplace," she said, "and just be able to get together and do things to raise money for a very worthy cause."

Relay for Life

The Indiana Bank & Trust Relay for Life team will be grilling sandwiches as part of a fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 19 at Jay C Food Store on West Tipton Street, Seymour.

This year's Relay for Life begins at 6 p.m. May 16 to the 1 p.m. closing ceremony May 17 at Seymour High School's Bulleit Stadium.

For information about Relay for Life in Jackson County, e-mail Michelle Gossett at michelle.gossett@cancer.org, or call Mary Voss at 522-6695 or Judy Duncan at 525-4960.