This year would have been their fourth Relay for Life, but the Johnstown community is finding a different way to support cancer patients after they say the American Cancer Society suspended the event.

“It’s awesome that the support for the event didn’t go away,” says Rob Heinrich, a committee member for the Walk of Hope.  “The local support didn’t go away when it changed and I think that speaks volumes about this community.”

Organizers believe the Johnstown Relay for Life may have been suspended because of the amount of relays in Cambria County.  They say the American Cancer Society wanted them to join efforts with another relay like the one in Ebensburg.

“We really didn’t want that to happen because we have a lot of support here, a lot of families here, and we have a lot of our services here,” Walk of Hope Chairperson, Marlene Singer, explains.

So they came up with their own event, the Johnstown Walk of Hope.  The money raised from this event will help local cancer patients at the UPMC CancerCenter, Conemaugh Cancer Center, Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center, and the newly designed fund to help local children with cancer.

The Walk of Hope will be held at Greater Johnstown High School’s Trojan Stadium.  They plan to bring back activities from past relay’s like the remembrance walk.

The event lasts the entire day and right now they have 22 teams signed up to walk.

“There’s no rules with this,” says Singer.  “You can come and walk any part of the day that you like.  We encourage families to come and we recognize the support families give during an event like this.”

Organizers say the best part of the event is that it will help folks here in our region.

“Everyone in the area uses the Johnstown hospitals and the Johnstown medical resources,” says Heinrich.  “This isn’t just a Johnstown event, it’s a whole area event.”

The Johnstown Walk of Hope will be held on June 4.  So far they have raised $15,000.