There’s still time to form a team for 2012 MMAC

It’s never too late to form a team for the upcoming Marianas March Against Cancer, according to overall event committee chair Catherine Attao-Toves.

Attao-Toves and committee vice chair Manny Borja were the guest speakers at the Rotary Club of Saipan general membership meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan on Tuesday.

Attao-Toves, who was still a teacher at Hopwood Jr. High School the first time she volunteered for MMAC, told Rotarians that the event committee then allowed her and several others to form a team and sign up a week before the event.

“We may not have the best tent or the most money raised,” she said. “However, it was all about participating in this event.”

To date, Attao-Toves said they already have 13 confirmed teams taking part in the MMAC event slated for April 27 to 28 at the Hopwood Jr. High School field.

The event features teams representing families, businesses, schools, and other organizations that run or walk around the course over a 12-hour relay period, lighting luminaries to celebrate cancer survivors and to remember those who have lost the fight against the disease.

This year marks the 10th year of MMAC, the largest signature fundraising event of the Commonwealth Cancer Association.

Attao-Toves revealed that she has been an MMAC volunteer for six years “to help make a difference in the community” after a cancer-scare episode.

Borja said there are several ways to get involved with MMAC, and forming a team is just one of them. There is a $300 fee for each participating family, non-profit group, or school team and $500 for each corporate team.

Other ways to help are through individual or business sponsorships and by purchasing luminaries at $5 each, added Borja.

Attao-Toves maintained that everyone in the community knows a family member or a friend who has been diagnosed with cancer. “Cancer patients need hope and encouragement, support and love. Cancer patients want to fight their illness and it is up to us to be of help to them and become their source of strength,” she said.

Attao-Toves said all MMAC proceeds will be turned over to CCA to sustain their various programs and activities.

“We hope to see you come together as we go in this journey as one community in battling cancer,” she added.

To sign up as a team or for more information, call Attao-Toves at 285-1828 or Borja at 989-1987.