ROBERTSDALE, Ala. -- When it comes to fighting cancer, you’d be hard pressed to find a family that has been hit harder than the family of Emory and Helen Boyington of Robertsdale.

You’d also be hard pressed to find a family that has fought back harder.

Both Emory and Helen Boyington fought cancer during their lifetimes. Emory Boyington was the first family member to succumb to the disease in 1979. Helen Boyington fought breast cancer and lived for several years cancer free before her death of unrelated causes in 2004.

Since then, seven of the Boyington’s 12 children have been touched by cancer, three of which, along with a nephew, have lost their battle, and for three others, the battle continues.

Jimmy Boyington, known to his family and many in the community as “Uncle Fluffy,” died in 2003, while Charles “Butch” Boyington died last year of pancreatic cancer and nephew Quentin “Chip” Cooper died of lung cancer.

Three siblings, Frances Sherman, Tommy Boyington and Barbara Driver, continue their fight against the disease. All three are currently in remission.

Then there’s sister Mary Geiger, who battled and beat lung cancer, but developed brain cancer because of chemotherapy treatments and died in 2010.

“It’s hard to describe what a strong person she was,” said her niece Kristen Buck. “She fought cancer until the day she died. She never gave up the fight.”

It was Mary who got the family involved in the Central Baldwin Relay for Life, forming the team “Helen’s Troopers,” in honor of the family matriarch.

“She was such a fighter and in her honor we are continuing to fight,” Buck said.

Last year, to honor Mary’s memory, the family started the “Bowling for a Cure” event to raise money for Helen’s Troopers and the Central Baldwin Relay for Life.

This year’s event will be held Sunday, Nov. 10 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Gulf Bowl in Foley.

“We started this as kind of a family event, but anyone who wants to can participate,” Buck said.

For a $15 donation, you will receive unlimited bowling during the event hours, shoe rental and a $5 bonus play arcade card.

Buck is pre-selling tickets and you can call her at 251-975-7301 for more information.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Helen’s Troopers Relay for Life team. There will also be a split-the-pot raffle with half of the proceeds going to Relay for Life.

The 2013 Central Baldwin’s Relay for Life event will be held beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22 on the track at Robertsdale High School.

The theme for this year’s relay is “Singing for a Cure,” and will include a “Relay Idol” sing-a-thon, along with other planned activities, Devine said. The goal for this year’s event is $40,000. Last year’s event raised approximately $32,000.

“We are still looking for teams, volunteers and sponsors for this year’s event,” said Jessica Devine, Central Baldwin Relay for Life coordinator. “I don’t think people realize that Central Baldwin Relay for Life includes all of the communities in Central Baldwin, not just Robertsdale. We want to encourage everyone in Loxley, Silverhill, Summerdale and the surrounding communities to participate in this event.”

Go to www.relayforlife.org/centralbaldwin to register your team. For more information, contact Devine by calling 251-947-7378 or email leedrugstore@gmail.com.

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. The event now includes more than 4 million participants annually in events nationwide and in more than 20 countries, and has raised nearly $5 billion for cancer research.

You can sign up as a survivor and participate in the annual 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.

Luminarias are also available for purchase for the event. 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.