CROWLEY – As the calendar inches closer to May 5, Relay for Life of Acadia continues to work toward finalizing preparations and spreading the word about the event.

The committee as well as team captains met Monday night to work toward making the 2012 event successful and fun.

The group learned that Acadia Parish’s event has 11 teams that are signed up, well on its way to its goal of 17 and the benchmark goal of 15 by the end of the month.

The benchmark deadline of Feb. 29, 2012 is set to help insure a successful relay.

Other benchmarks for the end of this month include raising 25 percent of the net goal, recruiting 90 percent of the committee, recruiting 50 percent of the survivors goal and many more.

“Survivors are a big part of Relay, we want to recognize survivors and have survivors at Relay,” said Camille Breaux, community representative for the American Cancer Society. “Survivors are like the celebrities of Relay. There is a survivors T-shirt and a survivors tent with snacks and drinks and a meal.

“We have these benchmarks as a tool to show if our Relay is on track and to see how we are doing as we move to reaching these goals.”

The committee and team captains in attendance learned that while Acadia Parish is well on its way to reaching many of the benchmarks, there is still has a lot of work ahead.

After discussing benchmarks, the focus turned to fundraising, another important part of Relay for Life.

A challenge to all the teams was issued. The team that can raise the most money between now and the eve of the next meeting will receive a prize. The teams also learned that other prizes could be won by individuals involved through “Hope Has No Curfew” and “Leaping to Find a Cure.”

Hope Has No Curfew is an exclusive campaign that Acadia Parish has been selected to participate in. A person who wishes to participate must take the pledge to stay all night at the relay staying until the closing ceremony, participate in the team’s on-site fundraiser and raising the individual goal of $100. Every person that does this earns an exclusive Hope Has No Curfew T-shirt.

Leaping to Find a Cure is a campaign that is special for 2012, because it is a leap year. The goal is to raise $1,000 by Feb. 29. Participants that meet the challenge will be eligible for wonderful prize.

The meeting ended with a discussion of teams’ upcoming fundraisers and how the planning for the event was coming for each team.

Those interested in forming a team or those wanting to join a team can do so by visiting www.relayforlife.org/acadia. Survivors are reminded that they can join teams for free and are urged to sign up online.