American Cancer Society

.. Success! ..

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Let's Relay!

Honestly, I am indeed one of the most inconsistent bloggers in Second Life!  I started the year off so well, and really wanted to do so much more in blogging but my other activities got the best of me!  Now that said, those activities were mostly all related to Relay For Life of Second Life.  Raising awareness and funds for The American Cancer Society in Second Life has been an activity that I’ve been involved with for 6 years now.  The charity holds a special place for me because of the number of family and friends that have battled cancer over the years and either won or did not.  I don’t know a single person that has not been touched by this disease even in some remote way.  In 2013, I was honored to serve as the Events Area Chair.  It was my first year on the committee and it was scary but rewarding.  I never knew if I was doing the right things or if we would actually be successful…but guess what?  We were!  In fact, the 2013 season brought so many firsts.  I really had not settled down to share, but it was truly amazing to see the people of Second Life come together all season and make a difference every day.  This year, in 2013, the Second Life community raised over $392,000 USD for the American Cancer Society during the Relay For Life season!  The season kicked off on March 9th and we closed it out with a wrap up party on August 10.  Five months and so much work … but oh so worth it!

Activities Regions RFL of SL 2013

RFL of SL Map View July 13, 2013 1047am SLT

2013 RFL of SL 071313 1116 survivor lap

Our actual Event weekend was held on July 13/14 and was also a rousing success.  My amazing team which included the most fantastic creator, Grace Loudon, and her partner Sean Devin, pulled together designers to create some really cool sites as well as setting up the space for the teams to have a presence on the track.  My co-chair, Pinkie Fellini and our events leads, Ashlynn Enoch and Dianna Wycliffe, worked tirelessly to ensure the auction items and musical entertainment was set up.  On event weekend, I stayed up nearly over 36 hours working with Linden Labs to try to keep the sims up and running smoothly.  Linden Labs staff were awesome and supportive throughout.  We managed 40  sims and while the start off was rocky, we never had any sims down for more than a few minutes due to crashing.  All in all, from Opening Ceremonies, through the Survivor/Caregiver lap, to the Luminaria Ceremony, past the Fight Back lap and into the Closing Ceremonies, we had avatars on the track…visiting the campsites, exploring the designer builds, donating continually, making new friends and visiting with old friends.  As we moved into the Closing Ceremonies, the Planning Committee were on the stream sharing just how close we were to raising the TWO Millionth US Dollar!  We had talked about it all weekend and when we got to closing ceremonies, we were around $7000 USD away.  The Planning Committee (NIkki Mathieson, Dwen Dooley, Serina Juran and Sting Raymaker) stayed on the air and urged all to empty their pockets.  In less than 1 hour, we hit that mark and the 2 millionth dollar was donated either in world or via the online donation site!  It was amazing!!  People are truly amazing and supportive!

luminaria rfl of sl 2013 071313 2116pm

Fight Back 2013

We are in off-season now.  You will still see kiosks around and vendors as well.  The lindens that are paid to these still all go to the American Cancer Society so the giving really never has to stop, just as cancer never sleeps.  Maybe you would like to get more involved with the Relay For Life of Second Life community in 2014.  Think about it… the season will kick off on March 8th, 2014.  If you are interested in finding out more throughout the year, join the “Relay For Life Volunteers” group in Second Life or follow on Facebook or Twitter or visit the website regularly.  All will be updated with information as the year progresses.

2 Million USD Celebration 071713

Thank you to the community of Second Life for continuing to give, support and promote Relay For Life in Second Life.  You are all amazing and every linden you dropped in a kiosk or vendor has made a difference!  Until there is a cure, we RELAY!!   Join the fight!

~Sunshine ❤

.. Here We Go! ..

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RFL 2013 Kickoff 1

On March 9th at 10am SLT, the 2013 Relay For Life of Second Life Kick-Off Event was held!   This long-awaited, very anticipated ceremony is the start to four months of official fundraising for the American Cancer Society.  Relay For Life has been present in Second Life since 2005 and has raised over $1.5 million USD!  Each year, the event has continued to grow and more and more avatars participate.  The passion that most active volunteers show is always amazing, and very inspiring.

RFL 2013 Kickoff 7

RFL 2013 Kickoff 9

The Kick-Off Ceremony was held on a four-sim build connected to the American Cancer Society Island sim.  The build was put together by Grace Loudon Devin and Vic Mornington and it was just beautiful.  Vic is serving as the Design/Build Lead for 2013 and Grace is his co-lead.   The inspiration for the build was New Orleans Bourbon Street area, and the center point is a Cafe du Monde inspired building.  This idea was derived by our Special Events Lead, Ashlynn Enoch.  Ashlynn and her co-lead, Dianna Wycliffe Sabretooth, put in lots of hours pulling the last minute details together for entertainment, teams, and the general event.  The Planning Committee worked to pull together the ceremony agenda and T1 Radio once again broadcast the event over the air.

RFL 2013 Kickoff 4

RFL 2013 Kickoff 5

RFL 2013 Kickoff 8

There will be over 120 teams that will spend the next 4 month hosting fund-raising events and activities.  To get them started, space was offered to teams to set up mardi-gras style (stationary) floats or little shops around the kick-off sims.

relay kick off 030913 1015am 1

The “tailgating” started at 8am SLT with 2 hours of music and camaraderie as the teams started milling about checking out the 4 sims and supporting the participating teams.  The four sims filled to capacity and at one point, there were around 190 avatars in attendance.  T1 Radio provided the entertainment until the 10am Kick Off Ceremony.  We heard from Nikki Mathieson, the 2013 RFL of SL Chair; Stingray Raymaker, our ACS Staff Partner; Serina Juran and Dwen Dooley, 2013 RFL of SL Co-Chairs for the opening with great info on why we relay, the 100th birthday of ACS, the importance of Convio and the technology of fundraising tools.  We heard from the 3 Area Chairs – Tayzia Abattoir, Teams Area; Gem Sunkiller, Outreach Area; and yours truly, Events Area – each shared a brief description of their area and why we relay.  I was very honored to be able to introduce our special speaker for the day, Lovenica, who reminded us why we relay with her story as a cancer survivor.  Then Nikki declared that the Relay For Life of Second Life 2013 season had officially begun!

RFL 2013 Kickoff 3

But first… a SURPRISE!   Sting announced a new inductee into the Relay For Life of Second Life Hall of Fame… MamaP Beerbaum who was the chair for the past 2 years and involved for at least 5 or 6 years.  It was an amazing tribute with recorded statements from many RFL of SL volunteers and resulted in bringing MamaP to tears.  Such a wonderful surprise!

RFL 2013 Kickoff 2

After the ceremony, there was another 10.5 hours of entertainment – Trader Whiplash, Vic Mornington, Fizban Underwood, and Madonna Daehlie DJ’d and the Avilion Dancers with DJ Jules were on the stage, too.  Some people stayed, some people came and went, some came back… but all in all, it was a perfectly wonderful way to kick off the Relay For Life of Second Life 2013 season!

RFL 2013 Kickoff 6

❤

Sunshine

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If you’d like to listen to the 2013 Relay For Life of Second Life KickOff Ceremony… check here

and the special presentation for MamaP is found here

Relay for Life in Second Life 2011

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Can you believe it?!?  Only 4 days until the big event!!  On July 16-17, 2011, thousands of Second Life avatars will line the Relay for Life track in our virtual world to celebrate another awesome fund-raising season.  For 24 hours, avatars will make their way along the track through 34 sims, over and over to increase awareness of Cancer, and the need to raise funds for research and other programs.  During the 24 hours, it is a time that to celebrate those that have conquered their bout with cancer, remember those that have succumbed the disease and to encourage those that are in the midst of their battle.  It is an incredible event – moving, enlightening, awakening, etc.

While this event takes place in Second Life, there are Relay for Life events all over the world.  The Relay for Life event is the signature fund-raising event for the American Cancer Society and takes place in over 5000 communities in the US and 20 countries world-wide.  During the 24 hour relay, in every RFL event, there are three traditions that take place.  These help participants Celebrate, Remember and Fight Back.  The Celebration is recognized with A Survivor’s Lap, where all those battling and surviving with cancer take a lap while all other participants cheer for them!  Remember is commemorated with the Luminaria Ceremony, during which participants walk the track in silence, remembering all those that have been touched by cancer and those loved ones lost to the disease.  Luminarias (candles lit inside a bag) line the track and each one represents a person being honored or remembered.   Then, Fight Back is a ceremony that allows us all to make a personal commitment to fight back and do what we can to prevent cancer.  During this lap, we make our pledges and encourage all to join us.  The entire Relay for Life in Second Life campaign is a rewarding experience.  The 24 Hours represents that fact that Cancer Never Sleeps…and we all stay on that track as long as we can.

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.” – Yoko Ono

The 2011 theme is Seasons of Hope.  The track in Second Life this year is laid out with different sections representing the seasons within a year.  From Winter, to Spring, to Summer and to Autumn… our ever-changing year.  In each section, teams have set up their “campsites” which will be the home base for the weekend.  These campsites should match the seasonal theme and represent the team’s commitment to Relay.  The team campsites are augmented by Designer sims where a known sim creator donates their time and effort to express their creativity and interpretation for Relay.

This will be my fourth Relay in Second Life and while my team, Eternal Beacon, has had a challenging fund-raising year, the core of us stick together through thick and thin and push to make a difference.  In my view, every Linden or Dollar raised, in world or via convio is an important one.  We have been busy building our campsite which is located in the Autumn section.  Our own theme is Harvesting Hope and we have created the Hope Ranch.

We hope that you will join Relay for Life in Second Life this year, and that we see you out on the track!!

Until there is a cure, I Relay!!

~Sunshine

*Hope Ranch is located on the RFL Recovery Sim and will be available to all starting on 7/16/2011 and probably just for a few days.  It was lovingly created by Dys Babii, Pinkie Fellini, Sunshine Zhangsun and Dione Kohime.  🙂