PHOTOS: Relay For Life Largo 2013

Relay For Life, the annual neighborhood walk to raise money and awarenes for cancer research, came to Largo Central Park on Saturday.

According to event organizers and officials, the Largo relay continues to grow in terms of money raised and people participating every year.

Largo Relay For Life chair Maria Giasevits said the community had already raised $23,000 this year prior to the event, compared to $26,000 raised all of last year.

"This has become a huge event for the city of Largo," Giasevits told Patch prior to the event's kickoff at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon. "It means a tremendous amount to the cancer survivors and their families."

"The event just continues to grow," she added. "This year we've got more sponsors, more businesses and more relay teams. Everybody is here to raise money and awareness for cancer."

Lauren Hagwood, the American Cancer Society's community representative for Florida, stressed the importance of the relays to the communities.

"They're really important to the individual communities because all the hard work that they put into ot goes right back into the community," she said.

"We kick off the Relay For Life season in Florida every year, so we need to set the bar high. And it just keeps getting bigger every year."

The relays are all about cancer survivors, their families and the many citizens and volunteers who help raise money and participate in the events in hopes of finding a cure for the deadly disease.

One such survivor, Largo resident Iris Keeley, said the relays are important for many reasons.

"I think this is a wonderful opportunity to support those of us who have survived the disease and honor the memories of those who didn't," Keeley, an eight year breast cancer survivor, said.

Hagwood added the ACS is the rare organization that hopes to be put out of business someday.

"Wouldn't it be great if the day came when we were able to say there is no more cancer?"

Sign up for the Largo Patch email newsletter to get our top headlines delivered straight to your inbox so you won't miss a thing!