Officials turn down request from fundraisers
By Eileen Oldfield Staff Writer
The school board declined the American Cancer Society’s third request to hold its June Relay for Life at Manville High School despite a plea from a representative of the group at Tuesday’s meeting.
The board requested the event be moved elsewhere in a letter to the American Cancer Society in August, citing security and staffing concerns.
The all-night charity event, which Manville has hosted since 2002, typically draws fundraising teams from schools and businesses in the area, as well as family members and friends of team members.
”It’s been wonderful having it here,” Business Secretary Richard Reilly said at the meeting. “We did get to a point where security and manpower became too difficult for us as a small school district.”
Mr. Reilly said that the American Cancer Society asked the board to reconsider; the board sent a second letter explaining the staffing and security issues in September.
”It grew each year, and it grew to the point that we could not provide the personnel or security to help run the event,” said Mr. Reilly.
According to John Arroyo, an American Cancer Society representative, the Relay for Life event raised close to $800,000 for cancer research and education last year, and had approximately 100 teams participating.
”Manville has been a signature event for the American Cancer Society in helping to fight cancer in this community,” Mr. Arroyo said at the meeting. “I’d like to formally request to have the Relay for Life again. We believe that, in our region, the Manville Relay for Life event is one of our signature events, with businesses sponsoring teams. We believe that if we were allowed to have it here one more year, we could top the $1 million mark.”
The board stood by its decision, however.
”I think we made up our minds and that’s it,” said board member George Jakelsky at the meeting. “I think it’s time for you to look somewhere else, like Bound Brook, Somerville, Hillsborough.”
Planning for the event typically starts in late summer, just a few months after the previous year’s Relay For Life concludes, and involves finding a site, volunteers to run the event, and teams to participate.
The absence of a site late in December concerned the organization, and has them searching for a new location, Mr. Arroyo said.
”We are disappointed because we had a track record in Manville,” said Mr. Arroyo. “Manville was one of the top fundraising events, if not the top fundraising event in our area.”
”We want to still have a presence in this area of the county,” said Mr. Arroyo. “We have a lot of community members in Manville who are invested in fighting cancer.
”We don’t want to disenfranchise the people and businesses in Manville who are committed to fighting cancer,” he said.

