ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Cancer Care Treasure Shop announced last Friday that Relay For Life will return in 2026, marking the event’s first appearance since 2019.
“We’ve been working hard trying to get it back for years, and unfortunately, COVID kind of took it away from us,” said Heather Guinn, store manager at the Richmond County Cancer Care Treasure Shop. “It was such a big event for Richmond County, we’re just trying to get as many people involved as possible to raise money for a good cause and what we’re trying to work for here at the store too.”
The Treasure Shop recently secured approval from Richmond County Schools to bring back the fundraising event. Given the extensive planning required, organizers decided to wait until 2026 to ensure its success.
“With it being such a major event, it takes a lot of work. If we were to try to do it this year, we wouldn’t have all the resources and the time to get everything prepared, so we will have a full year to prepare and make it such a good event. Since it’s coming back for the first time in a couple of years, we want it to be something big,” Guinn said.
The last Relay For Life took place in 2019 at the Cole Auditorium’s parking lot. In 2026, the event will move to Richmond Senior High School’s track, providing a new venue for participants and attendees.
Excitement surrounding the event was echoed in a Facebook post from the Treasure Shop: “It’s going to be such an honor for us to get this event up and going once again!!! With this AMAZING NEWS, we ask if anyone would want to volunteer to help with this event to please come by the Treasure Shop and speak with Rodney, Heather, or Sam!!! Our plans for Relay For Life are to make this an outstanding and HUGE event like no other!! We encourage all vendors and volunteers to please, please don’t hesitate to contact us!! We will be holding a meeting for all volunteers and vendors in the upcoming months!!”
Guinn noted that while an exact date for the volunteer meeting has not been set, the shop is aiming for May.
“It’ll be held here at the store, but we don’t know for definite if it will be May,” she said. “We’re shooting for May of this year to hold a meeting just to kind of go over things with everybody and get ideas and plans for the event to get everyone on board and going.”
While the Treasure Shop is currently focused on preparations for Relay For Life, it is also hosting an Easter raffle for an indoor decor Easter bunny. Tickets are available for $3 each or two for $5, with no in-store purchase necessary to enter.