Both cities will have banners in giant Wall of Hope Memorial in
Washington D.C. this September
If you have ever attended Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society’s signature event, you know the message: Hundreds of people coming together for a cause equals hope.
Each year, one of the most powerful parts of the overnight event is the Luminaria ceremony, when luminaries – white paper bags each with a candle inside – are lit in remembrance of cancer survivors and victims. One candle by itself is powerful, but the hundreds and hundreds of candles alit together is breathtaking.
The same idea holds true for the Wall of Hope, being presented for the first time this year in Washington D.C. in September. Each of the roughly 5,000 communities across the country that hold Relay for Life events – including Gilroy and Hollister – will sign and write messages of encouragement or memorial on an oversized banner.
The banners will be on display at each Relay for Life, and at the end of the events, they will be shipped to the National Mall in Washington D.C. There, they will be compiled into one giant Wall of Hope Memorial that will be displayed Sept. 19 and 20 in an event called Celebration on the Hill. Ambassadors from Gilroy and Hollister will travel to Washington D.C. to participate.
“It’s amazing, this whole event. It’s a very powerful thing, because it makes (cancer) more visual,” said Carol Johnson, the chairwoman for Hollister’s Relay for Life event, which will take place Aug. 4 and 5 at San Benito High School’s Andy Hardin Field. “We need to communicate to our leaders that we need more funding for cancer research.”
Because Hollister’s Relay for Life is still several weeks away, the banner has not yet arrived. When it does, it will be taken to the team captain’s meetings so people can sign it, Johnson said.
In Gilroy, the banner has more than arrived – it’s hanging proudly in the lobby of South Valley National Bank, which will hold a banner-signing event tomorrow from 3-6pm at the bank, 8000 Santa Teresa Blvd.
The 10-foot-long, 5-foot-wide banner is purple and white, the colors that symbolize the fight against cancer. The top line reads “Wall of Hope,” and right underneath in large white letters is “HOPE.”
The banner, co-sponsored by South Valley National Bank and The Gilroy Garlic Festival Association, was created in memory of the festival’s 20-year executive director Dick Nicholls, SVNB employee Roberta Marquez and First National Bank officer Bill Coyne, all who lost their battles to cancer in 2005.
“My sons and I had decided to be captains for the bank team and The Gilroy Garlic Festival team because of my husband, Dick,” said Brigitte Nicholls, wife of the late Dick Nicholls. “We heard they were looking for sponsors for the banner, and we thought it was an appropriate thing to do.”
The banner has collected several signatures and messages from visits to a number of local organizations, including the Gilroy Rotary and the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce. Anyone is welcome to attend the banner-signing event tomorrow, Brigitte Nicholls said.
“(The banner) represents hope. That’s the bottom line,” she explained. “You want to honor those who really fought the battle, and also those who lost. But you also want those who are currently fighting the battle – and the caregivers – to know that there is hope.”
Both Johnson and Brigitte Nicholls said they are looking forward to the upcoming Relay for Life events and feel honored to be part of the inaugural Wall of Hope Memorial event.
“I think the impact of what Washington will look like will be phenomenal,” Brigitte Nicholls said.
