Members of the Knights of Pythias will field a team at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life on June 12-13 at Freehold Raceway, Route 9, Freehold.
The Knights of Pythias is a nonsectarian fraternal order dedicated to friendship, charity and benevolence. The American Cancer Society is the national charity of the Knights of Pythias.
“I became involved with fundraising for the American Cancer Society last year after losing both my parents the year before to cancer,” said New Jersey Knights of Pythias Past Grand Chancellor Harvey Hamerling. “I have lost other relatives in the past as well. So besides being a Pythian function, this is a personal one for me.”
Hamerling said the Knights of Pythias is a national non-corporate partner for Relay for Life. Opening ceremonies will take place at 2 p.m. June 12. Participating teams will have at least one person walking on the track at all times until the event ends early on June 13.
A luminaria ceremony will be held at 10 p.m. June 12. The lights at the track will be turned off and only candles will light the night. Proceeds from the Relay for Life will benefit the American Cancer Society.
The Knights of Pythias has a lodge in Freehold, the Battleground Lodge, which meets on the first and third Tuesdays each month at the Elks Club, 73 E. Main St., Freehold.
Members of the Knights of Pythias live in many towns throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties, including Jackson, Lakewood, Manalapan, Marlboro, Howell and Freehold, to name a few.
For information about the Relay for Life or about how to support Team Knights of Pythias, call Leon Ben-Ezra, 732-462-2367, or Harvey Hamerling, 201-684-1090. For more information, go to the Internet website at www.relayforlife.org .