2011 Relay For Life Update: Brandon, Bloomingdale, FishHawk, Plant City, Riverview, Seffner

Eboni Pitts was at her third Relay For Life at Riverview High School when she took time out to pose for a picture and give her reasons camping out with her school and greater community on the school’s track this past weekend.

Simply put: to raise awareness and funds for prevention and research to rid the world of cancer.

One teen, two grandmothers — one of whom beat her battler with cancer, the other with every intention to beat her cancer as well.

“It really affected me,” said Pitts, a junior, who walked her first Relay as a freshman. “I love them and I’m proud of them. I’m glad to spend every moment I can with them.”

The walk is on to ensure cancer victims, like Pitts’ two grandmothers, live to celebrate many more birthdays.

The 2011 Relay For Life season in Eastern Hillsborough County is halfway through, with three of the area’s six Relays scheduled for the two weekends ahead.

This past weekend, March 25-27, Relays were held at Bloomingdale, Newsome and Riverview high schools. The three Relays collectively reported 138 tams, 2,331 participants and $237,360.02 raised as of March 28.

The overnight Relays at Brandon High School and Burnett Middle School, in the Seffner/Dover area of Greater Brandon, are scheduled to start 6 p.m. April 1. The Relay For Life at Plant City High School is scheduled to begin 6 p.m. April 8.

Collectively, as of March 28, the six sites in Eastern Hillsborough County had reported 270 teams, 3,956 participants and $359,641.47 raised. (See chart below.)

The chart below includes links to information about area relay events, from which the updates on people and teams participating, and money raised, has been collected: