ShawneeDispatch.com

As participants entered the track area at Mill Valley High School Friday evening for the Shawnee-Lenexa Relay for Life, they heard a young voice over the public announcement system.

"Hi, my name is Kyle Doerksen, and I'm here because my mom had cancer," the voice stated, introducing the beginning of the event: the survivors' lap.

Kyle's mother, Pam Doerksen, has participated in Relay For Life events for several years, but the relay five years ago had special meaning. That year, she was a team captain, not just a team member. That year, she not only walked laps when needed during the all-night event -- she walked the survivors' lap.

Ever since, Doerksen has been a team captain, and this year, Kyle formed a team, too. They were two of the 15 teams that took part in the fourth annual Shawnee-Lenexa relay, an event in which teams form to make sure at least one member is walking the track at all times from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next morning.

Though weather conditions eventually forced the cancelation of this year's event, participants still managed to raise more money than ever before.

The day Doerksen discovered she had breast cancer five and a half years ago is etched in her memory; it was the day cancer entered her family's life in more than one way. Just after her husband, Prairie Ridge Elementary School principal Randy Doerksen, called her to tell her a mammogram had revealed cancer, Pam's mother called her to tell her she had uterine cancer.

"We were both going through surgery and radiation and everything together, her in Springfield, Mo., and me up here in Kansas City," Pam Doerksen said.

Now in remission, the reading specialist at Clear Creek Elementary School has banded together with other teachers from Clear Creek to form the Clear Creek Walkers.

Doerksen wasn't the only member of the Clear Creek Walkers who was a cancer survivor. The team brought together three other teachers from the school who have battled the disease: first grade teacher Cheryl Garretson, gym teacher Debbie Johnson and school psychologist Linda Lawrence.

Johnson made a triumphant return to this year's event, this time with a full head of hair. At last year's event, she said she had just finished a round of chemotherapy, so the survivors' lap meant a lot, and this year's fund-raising event continued to impress her.

"When you have cancer, I think it just has a special meaning that all these people came out for a good cause," Johnson said.

In the fourth year of the event, planning committee member Wendy Hoefler said she was happy to see how much the event was growing. In the first year of the Shawnee-Lenexa relay, only seven survivors participated in the first lap of the relay. This year, it was closer to 40.

The rain that has plagued the area for weeks unfortunately did not stop for the relay Friday night. At 11:30 p.m., organizers were forced to cancel the all-night event.

However, cancellation did not hurt the event in terms of funds raised. By the time the event began, participants had already raised about $30,000, and during the four and a half hours that the event was run, another $6,000 was raised, besting last year's total by $2,000.