Wait 'til you hear what I'm willing to do to get your money!

Community events like Relay for Life tend to bring out the best in people. And sometimes, they inspire us to do some pretty off-the-wall things. Like exercising for eight straight hours. On a Saturday. In 88-degree heat.

That’s what my oldest daughter and I will be up to tomorrow, as Mooresville’s Acrofitness holds its first-ever 8-hour “Fit-a-thon” to raise money for the American Cancer Society through Relay for Life.

Cancer has impacted countless people and families, and it hit close to home this year in our local political world when Ward 3 Commissioner Mac Herring was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

I remember when Herring called a couple months ago to tell me about the diagnosis – it was amazing, in that moment, how quickly politics flew out the window. He told me that surgeons, within days, would be removing a suspicious tumor and biopsying it to determine if it was cancer. My heart, of course, immediately went out to Herring and his wife and their two young children. After I asked what seemed like a million questions in about a three-minute time span without taking a breath, Herring – without skipping a beat – simply said: “Well, look at it this way: at least there’ll be one less nut on the town board now.”

Herring’s positive outlook on life – in spite of the challenges he has faced – has always amazed me. From a diagnosis of dyslexia at an early age to being shot while performing a random act of kindness in 1991, Herring has more reason than most anyone I know to be cynical about life. But instead, he turns those experiences around to help others.

He has chosen to be the same way with his cancer. A Hospice nurse, Herring said that his diagnosis and resulting bout with chemotherapy has helped him “have more empathy for the folks I reach out to help through my Hospice calling.”

Herring has even called his cancer “a gift,” albeit an “unwanted one.”

“Just as I have in many other adverse situations I have been in before,” Herring said, “I can turn this into something good and use it to help others.”

And I have decided to help him in that cause, albeit in a different sort of way.

This year, I am on Team Acrofitness for Relay for Life of Mooresville/Lake Norman. And I’ve decided to raise all my funds for the American Cancer Society in Herring’s honor. So far, I have raised $260 of my $1,000 goal, excluding the money I have raised (and will hopefully raise at tomorrow’s Fit-a-thon) through the sale of some really cool purple crocheted headwear:

To see Relay’s flyer about the headwear fundraiser, click here:
http://relay.acsevents.org/site/DocServer/AcrofitnessHats.pdf?docID=83800

The hats – crocheted by Talina Ripper of Ripper Arts in Tennessee (http://www.ripperarts.etsy.com/) – can be embellished with purple flower hair clips, made by, well, me on behalf of my mom’s up-and-coming Main Street shop, The Mad Hatter Bakery & Boutique (which, by the way, should finally be opening within the next couple weeks).

You can find the purple hats and flowers – and even some little purple fairy tutus and some yummy cupcakes and cookies and such – at tomorrow’s Fit-a-thon, which is open to the public from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Acrofitness studio in the Talbert Pointe business park.

50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the headwear will be donated to Relay for Life through Team Acrofitness (which, I’m proud to say, is currently the top fundraiser for the local Relay event, with a whopping $6,386 raised so far).

Several other vendors will also be at tomorrow’s Fit-a-thon, including Rita’s, the Pretzel Factory, Hollywood Tans, and more. Each vendor has agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds to Relay through Team Acrofitness. If you or someone you know would like to set up a booth at tomorrow’s Fit-a-thon, come on out. There is no charge; Acrofitness is simply requesting donations, or a certain percentage of proceeds, for Relay for Life. For more information on the Fit-a-thon, call Acrofitness at 704-664-BFIT.

I will continue to raise money for the American Cancer Society through May 29, when the Relay for Life event is scheduled to be held in the Mooresville High School football stadium.

Please consider joining me in raising money for the American Cancer Society through Relay for Life. If you would like to make a donation to my fundraising campaign in honor of Commissioner Herring – or in honor of a loved one who is battling cancer or who has survived ... or in memory of a loved one who lost his or her battle with cancer – here’s where you can do it: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/jaimegatton