The Mower County Relay for Life held its annual relay walk at the Mower County Fairgrounds on Saturday. The event started in the afternoon and lasted into the early hours of Sunday morning.

“We’ve got 15 teams for this year,” said Anna Good, the co-chair of Mower County Relay for Life. “We’ve had a lot of people come in.”

Good said the Mower County Relay for Life is hoping to raise at least $60,000 for cancer research by the time the final number is tallied. That would be up by $4,000 from the previous year.

“We raised about $56,000 last year,” she said.

Prior to Saturday’s event, Mower County Relay for Life had raised about $36,000. Money can be turned in until the end of August, so the full amount raised will not be known until then.

Last year’s event was held indoors due to bad weather. This year, the sun was shining, which was greatly appreciated by Mower County Relay for Life co-chair Angie Hughson.

“It’s much better [having it outdoors],” she said. “We get to have entertainment outside.”

“And we get to put the luminaries out,” Good added, referring to luminaries that lined the Fairground road, each representing the memory of someone lost to cancer or honoring someone fighting cancer.

The luminaries had been purchased for $10 a piece and were decorated before being lit. Like everything else at the event, money from the luminary purchases went toward the amount raised.

Money raised by Relay for Life does not strictly go to cancer research. It is also used to fund programs, such as “Look Good, Feel Good,” which helps women with cancer put on their make-up and their wigs.

Other programs include the Hope Lodge, which is a free place for people to stay when they are going through cancer, and a 24-hour cancer support hotline.