Lolita Dunn looked at an empty field turned bargain fairground at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar and saw generosity and hope.
”It’s the ultimate donation,” said Dunn, Miramar’s special events coordinator. Fifty-five vendors, mostly city residents, paid $25 or $30 each per selling spot at the Miramar Garage Sale & Craft Fair to empty garages, clean closets, showcase artistic talents and support the American Cancer Society. The event, headed by Randy Kaiser, a Miramar recreation supervisor based at Fairway Community Park, raised about $1,500 for the third annual Miramar Relay for Life event that was scheduled for April 24-25 at Everglades High School in Miramar. Kaiser is captain of the Amazing Race Team made up of city employees who volunteer to support the cause. Relay, an 18-hour overnight fundraiser around encampments at parks and sports arenas nationwide for the American Cancer Society, last year raised $22 million at 329 Florida events alone. Relay participants take turns earning pledged donations by walking a track through the night. Inside the track, wacky encampments are set up by the teams that challenge themselves to meet certain goals.
Twenty-five relays will have occurred in Broward cities from Miramar to Deerfield Beach by the end of the 2009 Relay season in June.