In Pottstown last weekend everything went to the dogs.
The sunny, warm spring weather finally arrived as 22 teams and 116 participants paraded around Memorial Park to raise money for Pottstown’s 9th Annual Bark for Life. Bark For Life is an offshoot of the American Cancer Society and the city of Pottstown is known as the birthplace of the Bark For Life relays. Since it began, the Bark for Life chapter in Pottstown has raised $600,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Sue Dudek, a Bark for Life Committee member came with her dog, Charlie. “We are so proud to say that our community hosted the first Bark for Life in the nation. And that is such an awesome thing because there are so many Bark for Lifes all over the place. I just talked to someone from California and they just had their Bark for Life and raised over $13,000 and they are so excited.”
Also in attendance were human cancer survivors as well as dog cancer survivors – who wore received capes as part of the superhero theme. There were vendors, games, food and fun available to all. There were even demonstrations by police dogs, service dogs and dog training.
One of the participants, Sharon Hoover, is a cancer survivor herself. She arrived with her three dogs and had something to celebrate, “I just got my news yesterday that I don’t have to have scans anymore.” Hoover explains that she has had dogs that have fought different types of cancer so they were all there to raise money for research to give them more birthdays.
Last year Relay for Life put together a small video about the 2014 Bark for Life relay in Pottstown.
This year they have raised over $30,000 and that number is still rising.
If you’d like more information about Bark for Life, please visit Relay for Life. You can also donate to Pottstown’s Bark for Life by visiting www.relayforlife.org/barkpapottstown.
References:
1. The Mercury News 2. YouTube
