MARCO ISLAND — The American Cancer Society’s Marco Island Chapter will hold its signature community event, Relay for Life, on Saturday. Cancer survivors, caregivers, and the greater Marco community will gather as part of the world’s largest movement to end the disease.

Each year, more than 3 million people around the globe now participate in Relay for Life to celebrate survivors, raising money and awareness to fight the disease.

At Relay, local teams will gather to camp out at Mackle Park to walk or run the path for the next 24 hours. Because, according to ACS, cancer never sleeps, a representative from each team will be on the path from the 6 p.m. opening ceremonies to the 8 a.m. sunrise service and closing ceremonies on Sunday.

“This year, we moved the event to Saturday and Sunday so more families would be able to come and participate,” said Cheryl Axelson, Relay committee chair.

Axelson explained that the field at Mackle Park will be chalked off with a path, around which each team will pitch a tent in keeping with the theme, “Changing the Channel on Cancer.”

There will be food, games and fun for all who stop by. Live music and entertainment are scheduled from the noon registration through the 6 p.m. opening ceremonies.

The returning 2009 teams and their captains chose this year’s TV theme. The Marriott’s team will represent Nickelodeon, where Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer are to be on-hand to meet children and take photos. The YMCA will throw a tailgating party, ESPN Sport Center style, complete with a volleyball tournament. Lely High School student Bailey Quinn and her team of fellow students will host Scooby Doo and the Disney Channel, with face-painting, beads, candy and a water balloon fight.

Cancer affected Quinn at a young age.

“My best friend’s mom, who was like an aunt to me, got cancer in 2003. She passed away in 2008 after surviving for five years with stage four colon cancer. This is my way of honoring her.”

It was Quinn’s regular participation in Relay for Life that prompted ACS to ask her to host a team and sit in on the committee to give them a young person’s perspective on the event. Her close friend, Dante Sciallis, a survivor of a cancer diagnosis at age five, is one of the event’s honorary survivors.

“Bailey (Quinn) and Dante (Sciallis) would show up every single year and walk the track. Traditionally we have an adult and child as honorary survivors. Luckily, right now we are not aware of an island child going through cancer,” said Axelson, .

Sciallis recently moved with his family to California, she added.

“When we heard he (Sciallis) was coming to visit Marco Island, especially to participate in Relay, we knew we had to ask him to be an Honorary Survivor.”

Lisa Meurgue will be this year’s adult Honorary Survivor. Meurgue was instrumental in bringing Relay for Life to the Marco Island ACS chapter seven years ago after her sister died from ovarian cancer and her father survived a cancer diagnosis. Then, Meurgue was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It is only natural that someone who has given so much to Relay for Life be honored as a survivor herself,” says Axelson.

Both honorary survivors will lead the survivor lap after the opening ceremonies. Anyone from the community is welcome to walk the path at any time. After dark, the Luminaria ceremony is held to acknowledge people touched by cancer and remember those who have lost their battle with it. Anyone can come and personalize a Luminaria bag and place it on the track. All participants will be given a candle to walk with during the ceremony.

Melissa Felice is the new unit executive director for Marco’s ACS chapter. She is looking forward to Relay for Life being an avenue for ACS to show the community the resources ACS has available for anyone dealing with cancer.

“This year is a building year. We appreciate all the people who have been involved and we want to expand and show the community more about the services we have at ACS,” Felice said.

“I want to encourage people to come to us with suggestions. ACS is uniquely volunteer-driven so I see my role as the team coach, not the team captain.”

The Marco chapter will be working hard to get the word out about the services they offer that directly help cancer patients, their families and caregivers, including information about the latest treatments; support groups; “Look Good... Feel Better,” which is a program that supplies and guides patients through skin care and appearance issues during treatment, and the “very much used ” Road to Recovery, Felice said.

This program matches volunteer drivers with patients who need a ride to their medical appointment.

Those who volunteer their time are not only meeting a need, they are demonstrating to the patient his or her value as a human being, said Felice.

“You are helping someone at the lowest point in their life. Just giving one day to give someone a ride (for example) has a big impact the rest of that person’s life, knowing that other people care.”