Hundreds of residents from Niles and Buchanan will be uniting this weekend to support the fight against cancer during the Niles-Buchanan Relay For Life.

The event begins at noon Saturday and runs until 8 a.m. Sunday at Niles High School, 1441 Eagle St., Niles.

Co-chairperson Margaret Dawson said organizers hope to raise $80,000 this year. Around 650 people attended last year’s event and raised more than $70,000.

“I can’t think of anyone whose life hasn’t been affected by cancer at one time or another,” Dawson said. “It is so important to support Relay For Life because, every year, researchers are coming up with new things that are helping so many people in their fight with cancer.”

Relay For Life is an overnight relay-style event featuring teams of people camping out around a track. Members of each team take turns walking around the track for the duration of the event. Food, games and activities provide entertainment and fundraising opportunities.

At Relay For Life, individuals celebrate survivors, remember those who have lost the battle and fight back against cancer by raising money for research.

Each Relay For Life features a Survivors Lap, when survivors circle the track together; a luminaria ceremony, when candles are lit inside bags filled with sand; and a Fight Back Ceremony, when individuals make a personal commitment to save lives by taking up the fight against cancer.

All proceeds go to support the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer.

The Niles-Buchanan Relay For Life begins with an opening ceremony and fight back ceremony at the grandstand at noon Saturday. The survivor ceremony is set for 6 p.m. and the luminaria ceremony at 10 p.m. The closing ceremony set set for 8 a.m. Sunday.

This year’s relay features a silent auction, euchre tournament, cornhole tournament, dunk tank, frozen T-shirt contest, chicken bowling, water balloon volleyball and a hot wings eating contest.

For more information or to register a team, visit the Niles-Buchanan Relay For Life website by logging onto relayforlife.org and searching for the Niles-Buchanan Relay For Life.