SUMMERDALE, Alabama — Most college football fans can relate to showing support for their teams by wearing the school colors. On Friday night, the American Cancer Society is asking teams to wear colors to show support on a winning team in the fight against cancer.

Central Baldwin’s Relay for Life event will be held Friday, Nov. 18 at Pioneer Park in Summerdale with the theme “Colors for a Cure.”

Most people associate the color pink with breast cancer, but what many don’t know is that other cancers are represented by colors as well.

“Every type of cancer has a color associated with it,” said Jessica Devine, co-chair and sponsor chair for Friday’s annual event. “For example, I am on the Lee Drugs team and our color is gray, which is associated with brain cancer.”

The event will begin with a Survivors Dinner at 5 p.m. at the Summerdale Community Center. Survivors will walk from the Community Center to Pioneer Park, where opening ceremonies will begin at 6 p.m. with the walk continuing until 10 p.m.

Relay for Life has become a major fundraising event for the American Cancer Society since it began in Tacoma, Wash., in the mid-1980s.

The first event began with just one man, Dr. Gordy Klatt, a Tacoma colorectal surgeon, who spent 24 hours circling the track at Baker Stadium and the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma in May 1985. He ran more than 83 miles.

That first year, nearly 300 friends, family and patients watched as Klatt ran and walked the course. Throughout the night, friends donated $25 to run or walk with Klatt for 30 minutes. His efforts raised $27,000.

The following year, with the help of Pat Flynn, Klatt organized the City of Destiny Classic 24-Hour Run Against Cancer, which included 19 teams and raised $33,000.

According to the event’s website, 19 teams and more than 125 participants have signed up to take part in this year’s Central Baldwin event.

Each Relay starts with a Survivors Lap, “an inspirational time when survivors are invited to circle the track together and help everyone celebrate the victories we’ve achieved over cancer.”

The Lap also serves to recognize and celebrate caregivers at Relay for Life.

After dark, people who have been touched by cancer and loved ones lost to the disease are remembered during the Luminaria Ceremony. Candles are lit inside bags filled with sand, each one bearing the name of a person touched by cancer and participants often walk a lap in silence.

Last, there is a Fight Back Ceremony, in which participants make a personal commitment to save lives by taking up the fight against cancer, such as getting a screening test, quitting smoking or talking to elected officials about cancer.

Title sponsor for this year’s event is Sweat Tire. Event sponsors are Tanger Outlet, Lee Drug Store, Baldwin EMC, Mack Funeral Home, Vision Bank, Coca-Cola, Beachside Furniture, Gruenloh & Assiciates, BancorpSouth, ERAclass.com agent Carl Myrick and DataTrust Technologies.

For more information, visit the event website: www.relayforlife.org/southbaldwincentral. You can also visit the Central Baldwin Relay for Life Facebook page. Tiffany Lynn is the event chair, Devine is the event co-chair, along with Mary Walker. For information on the Central Baldwin event, contact Devine at myricje@gmail.com or Carolyn Byrne, with the American Cancer Society, 251-344-9858 or carolyn.byrne@cancer.org.