Like so many others at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Westmoreland County on Saturday, Carly Bishop of Hempfield was walking around a path at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in memory of a loved one who died from cancer or in honor of a cancer survivor.

“I’m doing it for my dad, Jay Peters, who died in January of bladder cancer. He was only 63,” Bishop said, who was participating in the relay with several other family members of different generations. She was carrying her niece, Molly Casteel, the daughter of her sister, Jaynee Casteel, as she joined others from the region in walking to raise money for the battle against cancer.

“The whole family is here,” Casteel said.

Bishop, her niece and other relatives were among about 330 people who had registered for the relay to raise money for cancer research and help with the needs of patients, said Katie Ronald, senior development manager of the cancer society’s Pittsburgh Branch, which sponsored the event. There were still others who participated without registering.

Even before the relay began at noon Saturday, the organization had raised $130,000 through sponsorships and other events, Ronald said.

Those with the stamina for long-distance walking could walk the route on the UPG campus, around, around and around, for 10 hours on Saturday.

The local cancer society has sponsored the relay since the 1990s, Ronald said. This year’s relay combines the relays previously held in the Greensburg, Latrobe, Murrysville and Mt. Pleasant areas, Ronald said.

This year was the first time the regional cancer society has been able to hold a full-blown event, with sponsor tents, food booths and food trucks, since before the pandemic, Ronald said.

During the height of pandemic-related restrictions in 2020, Ronald said they held were limited to a drive-through relay. Last year, they had a pared-down version lasting about four hours.

Ninety-year-old Marjorie Peters of Hempfield came with her family to show support for fight against cancer. Her son, Jay Peters, died of cancer and she is a survivor of three bouts with cancer.

“We’re here for everyone,” said Peters, who was with two of her daughters.

Judy Rosatti of Greensburg was walking for several family members, including her husband Dennis Rosatti, who is a two-time cancer survivor. She said he was disappointed he could not join them, but he is recovering from covid.

“He’s always been a fighter,” Rosatti said.

Jimmy Zummo of Greensburg walked with GiGi’s Angels, a team organized by the family of his fiance, Anita Overly. Her mother, Rita Crowell, died of cancer in March at age 61, and her late grandmother, Mary Rita Ruckel, battled the disease as well.

Zummo was walking the path with a black compression vest.

“She carried cancer. I can carry a little more myself,” Zummo said of his fiance’s mother.

Shannon and Marc Lippa were keeping up a steady pace as they walked around the UPG campus. In past years, they walked when the relay was held at Hempfield Area’s stadium, where Shannon is a teacher.

They were not walking in memory of a specific victim or survivor of cancer, Shannon said, but “for everybody who is fighting this horrible disease.”

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