Tampa Bay Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology Join Relay for Life in Clearwater

Online, May 19, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Clearwater's Annual Relay for Life was held under bright skies on May 13th and 14th at Clearwater's Coachman Park. Participating teams included Clearwater Catholic High School, Clearwater High School, Dress Barn, Good Samaritans, the Hyatt Regency, Macy's, the Pinellas County Tax Collector, Starbucks, Sunstate Academy, Target and the Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology.

This all-night fundraiser generated nearly $80,000 for the American Cancer Society through pre-event and on-site fundraisers - including bake sales, car washes and bowling tournaments before the event and selling snacks, massages, chance drawings, dinner and - from the Boy Scouts of Troop 313 - S'mores.

Captaining the team for the Volunteer Ministers was Gale Pollack, whose mother and cousin passed away from cancer just this past year.

"The battle isn't won, but we are making strides," she said. "Relay is the hope that my dreams of a world without cancer IS our future, and as a Volunteer Minister, it was wonderful to share my knowledge here at Relay."

Over the last 30 years, the Volunteer Ministers, have provided relief at more than 128 worst-case scenario disaster sites, including Ground 0, Hurricane Katrina, the South East Asian Tsunami and last year's massive earthquake in Haiti.

They are internationally known for their organizational ability and work in tandem with other relief groups such as the Red Cross. They are also expert in the use of 'assists', which were developed by L. Ron Hubbard to help individuals spiritually following illness or injury.

Judy Fagerman is in charge of the Tampa Volunteer Ministers, and she participated in the Clearwater Relay. In additional to fundraising for ACS by selling vegetable and fruit juices, the Volunteer Ministers offered assists.

"People were exhausted and some in pain and they were able to get immediate relief from an assist so that they could keep Relaying, which is why they were there," said Fagerman.

"As Volunteer Ministers, our motto is that 'something can be done about it' and the whole Relay event is a demonstration of that," said Fagerman. "All those cancer survivors here and their care givers helped prove it as well."

All proceeds benefited the American Cancer Society, a nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service. To find out more about how you can help, please go to www.cancer.org.

To find out more about assists and the Volunteer Ministers, please go to www.volunteerministers.org.