After a fast start out of the gate, Relay for Life 2012 is making the turn toward the finish line.

Sharla Davenport, chair of the 2012 Relay board, said 33 Relay teams are registered online and other teams that haven’t registered are also working diligently to raise funds in the fight against cancer.

“It is never too late to get involved in Relay for Life and we are seeing evidence of that,” Davenport said. “On Friday, a team contact me to say they were late getting started but they do have a team and are out working and will be participate in Relay on Friday night, May 4, at the Troy Recreation soccer fields.”

Davenport said more teams have indicated that they will be raising funds at the May 4 Relay event.

“Several teams will have raffles at Relay,” she said. “One will be for a Big Green Egg. So, we encourage teams to take advantage of the opportunity to raise last minutes funds.”

To make it easier for participants to locate raffle or other fund-raising sites at Relay, Davenport said the information will be posted on a conveniently located information board.

The theme for the 2012 Relay for Life fund-raising event is “One World, One Hope, One Cure.”

Davenport said Troy and Pike County have always been very generous in their giving and that is reason to be optimistic about Relay 2012.

“Next week will be extremely busy as we move toward the culminating Relay event, she said. “We’ll be ‘Painting the Town Purple’ as a lead-up to Relay. The Survivors Dinner, sponsored by Boutwell Floor Covering and Synco Drugs, will be at 6 p.m. May 1 at Park Memorial United Methodist Church and all cancer survivors are invited and encouraged to attend.”

The old newsboys will be on the streets accepting donations for the special Relay edition of The Messenger and Bank Night will be Thursday at Region’s Bank.

“So we have a busy schedule for the final week of Relay,” Davenport said. “We also encourage those who would still like to get involved to do so. Fund-raisers the night of Relay are permitted and add to the fun of raising funds for such a worthy cause as the fight against cancer.”