JOLIET – An event to fight cancer will be held at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

Called Relay For Life, the event honors cancer survivors, remembers loved ones lost to cancer and raises funds to help fight it, according to the American Cancer Society.

Relay For Life teams will take laps Saturday around the track at Joliet Memorial Stadium, 3000 W. Jefferson St. The event will go from noon to midnight.

The event is not an actual relay, said Kristen Koppers, a Joliet West High School English teacher who is a volunteer sponsor and co-captain of Joliet West Students of Community Advocacy.

Koppers started the Relay For Life club in 2012 after her father died from pancreatic and colon cancer. Since its inception, the club has donated about $10,841 to the American Cancer Society. It has also participated in other fundraising efforts and events.

“The whole focus [of Relay For Life] is to have one person on the track as a symbol of awareness,” she said.

Students of Community Advocacy, along with more than 70 teams, are listed to participate for the Relay For Life in Joliet. Joliet Central High School teams are listed, along with others such as Cancer Can’t Win and Hands of Hope.

The event starts with an opening ceremony at noon and includes a survivor lap, a caregiver lap, a sponsor lap, team laps and other types of laps. The event will also have a luminaria ceremony and a Mr. and Miss Relay competition.

Relay For Life grew into a movement after in May 1985 Gordy Klatt walked and ran for 24 hours in Washington state, raising $27,000 to help the American Cancer Society.

The movement has grown into an international phenomenon, raising almost $5 billion to fight cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

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IF YOU GO

WHAT: Relay For Life of Joliet

WHEN: Noon to midnight Saturday

WHERE: ATI Field, Joliet Memorial Stadium, 3000 W. Jefferson St.

GET INVOLVED: For more information or to register a team, visit http://shawurl.com/2mia or contact Michelle Pruitt, community manager, Relay For Life, 708-633-7771, michelle.pruitt@cancer.org.