Fighting for the cure one cup at a time

SUPERIOR – Aromas of food filled the greenway where food, drinks and desserts were sold, raising money for the fight against cancer.

This year four teams participated in the Lunch in the Lot event, dishing out hamburgers, taco salads, homemade desserts and refreshing lemonade.

Keeping with tradition, the event experienced rain like it had in the past, however, the light precipitation was not enough to keep hungry community members away from the food being offered.

Peggy Temple, one of the organizers for the event, was thankful for the weather even if it was damp.

“I think every year we get rain. At least its not windy this year,” Temple said.

The large tent was packed full of chairs and tables, while participants enjoyed their lunch outside. The turnout for the event was strong.

“We’ve been doing really well given the weather,” Temple said.

The Tarkio Trekkers, Rockies Rockets, Running Stitches and Terrace Springers were the teams to represent the event this year, some of them participating since the beginning of the relay itself.

“We’ve been a relay team since it started in Superior and that’s about 18 years or so,” Stacy Crabb of Rockies Rockets said. “We’ve been doing it a long time.”

Crabb helped her two daughters Lanie and Josie serve up lemonade.

Josie slowly counted out the cups of lemonade mixture, pouring them carefully into the large pitcher. The group worked together to ensure everyone left the event quenched.

Some new timers came to help as well, with Sarah Lewis helping the Tarkio Trekkers with their dessert table.

Sarah’s aunt Deborah had convinced her to join, making it a family affair. Along with an aunt and her mother, Sarah has been working along the relay team to raise funds for the event.

“(I wanted) to help support them and it seemed like fun,” Sarah said.

According to Deborah, the Tarkio Trekkers have been a team for seven years.

Numbers are currently down for the Mineral County Relay event, however, Deborah does not think that will hinder the generous support of the county.

“We’ve had a few years where we had a lot of teams and a lot more participation, but I still am just always amazed at how generous the community is,” Deborah said.

Every year the community comes together for the common cause to finally end the long fight against cancer. The goal of the relay is to raise $35,000 throughout the different fundraising event – a hefty number for a county with a population just slightly over 4,000.

With such a large goal ahead of them, the county has come together over and over to prove that they can and will bring in as many funds as possible.

“That really shows how everybody comes together,” Temple said.  

The annual Lunch in the Lot event is yet another way the teams can raise money for the Relay for Life event. The fundraising spans most of the year and teams can use their creativity when it comes to raising their own funds.

The money raised will go to the Relay for Life, and will later be donated to the American Cancer Society to help fund research, while also helping a few local programs within Mineral County.

This year Rockies Rockets brought in $47 with their lemonade stand, the Running Stitches quilt guild team brought in $270 for their taco salads, the Terrace Springers were able to raise $360 on their hamburgers, while the Tarkio Trekkers raised $200.