North Otago has raised more than $81,000 for the Cancer Society from its Relay for Life in Oamaru and a gala at Otematata.
That was less than the $97,000 raised at Oamaru's first Relay for Life in 2011, but the society was still ''thrilled at the generosity of the North Otago community'', co-organiser Janie Peck said yesterday.
''Because we are not funded by government, we are fully dependent on the community's support,'' she said.
Difficult economic times and fewer teams - about 750 participants compared with about 1000 two years ago - in the 24-hour Relay for Life at Centennial Park on March 16 and 17 had probably led to less being raised, but it still made a major contribution to the society's services in North Otago.
The Relay for Life raised almost $77,000, with some donations still to come in. The bulk of that will go to North Otago cancer support, with a small contribution towards Cancer Research.
This year, Otematata organised a gala on Easter Sunday so people in the Waitaki Valley could contribute. It raised about $4500, which organisers had asked go towards Kowhai House in Dunedin, the accommodation complex used by out-of-town cancer patients.
