UPDATE: May 23, 2011

The Ojai Community Bank staff, board and customers walked throughout the weekend in support of a cure for Cancer. The Skinner’s Winners team raised a phenomenal $6,250! Thank you to everyone for all your hard work and support. We will find a cure!

From the Ojai Valley News (PDF): "Ojai 'Relay for Life' to Bring in thousands for ACS"

OCB Staff Baking for a Cancer Cure

Can sweets prolong your life? If these sugar-filled treats help raise money for a cure for cancer they do, claims Ojai Community Bank. The employees at OCB are banking on it every Thursday. Each staff member has signed up to not only walk in the May 21-22nd walkathon, called Relay for Life,, but also bake or donate luscious baked goods for sale in the OCB lobby on Thursdays throughout April and May. So far cupcakes, Bundt cakes, lemon bars and peanut butter brownie squares have tempted donors. The OCB bakers (and their many donors) have raised $3,009.00 towards their $4,000 goal with their delectable treats. This fantastic total places Skinner’s Winners in 2nd place out of Ojai’s 27 teams.

Relay for Life is a two day event held at the Nordhoff High School track. There are 27 teams signed up and at least one of their team members will always be walking the track throughout the 24 hour fundraiser. Each OCB team member has committed to collecting $100 in sponsorship of their laps. Many team members camp out on our local football field supporting their teammates in the late hours of the night, and reminding us all that cancer never sleeps.

One of the highlights of the weekend is the survivors’ lap, a walk by those who are celebrating their win in the battle over cancer. OCB has several staff members walking this celebration lap. Another highlight is the Luminaria Ceremony, which takes place after dark and honors people who have been touched by cancer and to remember loved ones lost to the disease. Candles are lit inside bags filled with sand, each one bearing the name of a person touched by cancer, and participants often walk their lap in silence. OCB staff members will be walking in honor of the Bank’s founding President Shari Skinner who passed away from breast cancer a year ago February, as well as other family members and friends who have fallen to cancer. The entire event is life changing as you walk with friends of old, new ones found, all in the common goal of eliminating this pervasive disease.

Relay began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Washington, ran and walked around a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Since then, Relay has grown from a single man’s passion to fight cancer into the world’s largest movement to end the disease. Each year, more than 3.5 million people in 5,000 communities in the United States, along with additional communities in 20 other countries, gather to take part in this global phenomenon and raise much-needed funds and awareness to save lives from cancer.

Ojai Community Bank encourages you to take part in Relay for Life in one way or another. Come by the branch for a treat, whether you have your account here or elsewhere. Join our team (Skinner’s Winners at www.relayforlife.com), come walk for an hour or make a donation online. We welcome everyone. We are all in this together and together we can eliminate this disease.

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