Thousands of community members will be walking the campus of Dutcher Middle School on Saturday for the fight against cancer at city's the annual “Relay for Life” event.

Saturday will mark the 13th year the city of Turlock has participated in the cause. Over the years the growing popularity of Relay for Life has been evident with the rising number of participants. This year alone, the event will have 63 teams accounting for 721 total participants.

With the collective efforts of all the teams and their participants, this year’s relay has managed to raise over $119,170 so far. All proceeds earned will go to the American Cancer Society.

This year’s fight back chair for relay, Lisa Vorse, said she is excited to see the growing number of participants.

“We have a lot of new teams,” said Vorse. “They all have fresh ideas, new ways of thinking and they’re all very excited.”

Vorse also emphasized that the event, along with being a celebration to those survivors who beat cancer, is also a time to recognize the volunteers who helped those struggling with the disease.

“We want to focus on our volunteers as well. We also survive because of people like our volunteers,” Vorse said.

For those survivors who will be participating in the event, there will be an honorary “survivors lap.” At that time, upbeat music will fill the crowd as the survivors will celebrate their victory over cancer. After both survivors and participants have walked all day, the Luminaria Ceremony will take place, where the celebratory mood takes a more somber turn.  During the Luminaria lap, relay participants will honor the lives of those who lost the battle to cancer.

The event will also include a large “Hope and Cure” sign that will be signable by all the participants.

The walk will officially begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Dutcher Middle School track, on the corner of Hawkeye and Olive Avenue.

For more information about Turlock Relay for Life, call Lisa Vorse at 620-4412 or visit www.relayforlife.org/turlockca.