For a Good Cause -- Pat Smith

* Story by Young Chang

Pat Smith, a 15-year survivor of ovarian cancer, says she should have

died twice but was saved by God to work on Relay for Life.

As the co-chair for the 24-hour awareness-raising event that began

Friday and ended Saturday, the Newport Beach resident says being a

volunteer for the first-time relay is her way of giving back to the city

that helped her be here today.

“I have lived here probably for 30 years, I have had businesses here,

I have two grown children who live here and I’m a grandma, and I’m 65

wonderful years,” said the volunteer who teaches at Corona del Mar High

School.

Since becoming involved in Relay for Life in December, Smith has met

with a leading committee once a month at Newport Beach City Hall and

worked to increase publicity for the event.

She worked to secure teams for the relay, get sponsorships and rouse

enthusiasm. Her Relay efforts have taken about five hours out of every

day in recent months.

The American Cancer Society event, which was led also by city

officials, including Newport Beach Councilman Steve Bromberg, involved

teams of five to 20 participants who took turns running or walking at

Newport Harbor High School for 24 hours.

“It took awhile for the community to get the idea of the 24 hours, but

the reason it’s 24 hours is because cancer doesn’t take time out for

people,” said Smith, who co-chaired the event with City Manager Homer

Bludau.

As a lead organizer, Smith also got children involved through schools,

churches and Scout groups.

“The phone’s been ringing off the hook,” Smith said.

Three-quarters of the proceeds raised last weekend will go to cancer

research.

“The reason I’m involved in this is because this is universal,” Smith

said. “This is men and women, this is our children, our students. . . .

There’s hardly a family in the U.S. that has not been touched by cancer

in one way or another.”

As a survivor who credits her city for its support in helping her

battle the disease, Smith also applauded Newport Beach’s heavy

involvement in Relay for Life.

“I would like to compliment the people of Newport Beach for their

support of this event for the first time,” she said.