POCATELLO — When Bill Wall lost his daughter, who was formerly the Pocatello Relay for Life caregivers and survivors chair, taking over her position wasn’t a choice, he said. It was an obligation.

His daughter, Christina Wall-Brown, lost her battle against ovarian cancer in 2014. And for the past three years, Wall has made it his mission to keep the American Cancer Society’s Pocatello Relay for Life a viable way to garner support for cancer patients and survivors in the area.

“I want to thank the community because we did something this year that was totally unbelievable,” Wall said. “Our budget was so low that I found out we had to try and get the food for our caregivers and survivors dinner for free. I started off and went to the people who could afford it and I was running into a brick wall everywhere.”

He couldn’t find anybody who could contribute all 200 meals for free, so he worked to find four businesses that could donate 50 meals each.

Wall said that Senior Iguanas donated 100 enchilada dinners, Nel’s Bi-Lo Market donated enough pulled pork for 60 sandwiches, the Sand Trap donated 50 barbecue chicken breasts and Mama Inez donated plates of nachos for the dinner.

“Because we didn’t have to buy the dinners we were able to keep that money in our budget, and those who donated got their name on the shirts,” Wall said. “And people will wear those shirts around town for an entire year until the next relay so it was a great advertising opportunity.”

Though the Relay for Life in Pocatello has devolved from a 24-hour event that featured all-night concerts with multiple bands into a six-hour event with limited musical performances, Wall said the reason many people have reservations when it comes to participating in the relay is because they must have some direct link to a cancer patient or survivor to become interested.

“The sad thing about the teams and the community is that they never get involved until they are thrown into it,” Wall said. “When somebody they love hears those three words, ‘You’ve got cancer,’ that’s when they become involved. But nobody asks for cancer and it’s my goal to change those three words to ‘what was cancer.’”

Another objection that limits community participation, according to Wall, is that many people struggle to realize that donating to the American Cancer Society helps all cancer patients and survivors, not just those in Southeast Idaho. And oftentimes, people would rather know their contributions are staying local.

“I heard people ask how much of the money actually stays here,” Wall said. “Well, is that really material? If you take a look at Idaho, I think we raised less than $1 million last year through Relay for Life. Now imagine New York earned $10 million. If they find a cure, we get access to that same cure.”

Rather than hosting the event out at Century High School like in years past, Wall said the committee made the decision to move Pocatello’s Relay for Life to Hawthorne Middle School because of its central location in the city.

That, coupled with the limited ability to combat inclement weather such as high winds, made the decision to relocate easy.

“The easiest way to get people involved is to host it at a more public venue,” Wall said. “This was an experiment moving the relay to Hawthorne Middle School to try and bring in residents living in the nearby neighborhoods.”

Pocatello’s Relay for life was hosted in conjunction with the Gate City Grays’ game. Spectators were encouraged to join the relay following the game.

Teams in 2017 raised over $56,000, compared to $38,000 last year. And while they didn’t meet the $75,000 goal, Wall said he was pleased with the significant increase in light of obstacles they overcame.

The city of Idaho Falls will host its Relay for Life event today in Thunder Stadium at 3165 East Iona Road. So far, the event has raised more than $36,000 of its $120,000 goal.

“A lot of people in the community don’t realize how much one dollar will help. I mean, one dollar will buy 25 pipettes,” Wall said. “Anything anybody can contribute helps because one thing I’ve learned from all the cancer survivors that I’ve met is that they’re unique. They are different breed.”