A Full Heart: Cranberry Woman's Efforts Bring National Cancer Award to Community

When Amy Fuller moved to Cranberry Township from Oil City close to a decade ago, she felt a little lost.

In previous years, Fuller and her family had participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, a 24-hour event that raises money to battle the disease and honors those who fought or are still fighting cancer.

Fuller, who began volunteering with the event because of the impact cancer has had on her own family, said she was disappointed to find her new hometown lacked a Relay for Life.

“I felt homeless,” she said.

She decided to bring the event to the community.

After working with the township and the American Cancer Society, Fuller founded the Relay For Life of the Greater Cranberry Township Area in 2004.

That first year, according to Fuller, the event raised $69,000. In the years that followed, the event expanded its goals. Nancy Verderber, a community income development specialist with the American Cancer Society, said the local event last year netted $115,000.

This year’s goal, she said, is to reach $123,500.

“So we have a nice lofty goal to meet,” she said.

In 2010, Fuller also successfully signed up 80 people to join the Cancer Action Network, an advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society that lobbies lawmakers to improve the lives of cancer patients.

Because of Fuller’s efforts, the advocacy group chose the Cranberry program from more than 5,000 other Relay For Life events across the nation to receive its Nationwide Heart of Relay Advocacy Award last year.

Verderber said the network gives out only one Heart of the Relay honor per year. She credited Fuller with bringing the award to Cranberry.

“It wasn’t just because she got 80 people to sign up [for the advocacy group],” Verderber said. “The award looks at the impact that her efforts had on making people more aware of their role in making a difference in the day-to-day fight against cancer.”

On Wednesday, Fuller and Verderber showed off the award to The framed certificate will hang in the halls of the township’s municipal building, where relay volunteers also meet once a month.

Verderber said Fuller’s efforts to increase cancer awareness would benefit the community for years.

“I am very, very proud of Amy and the work she has done,” Verderber said. “She has led the volunteers, and the impact she has made is going to be felt by not just the people involved in the relay, but their own kids.”

Fuller already is making plans to top last year’s goal. This year, she said, she hopes to sign up 100 people for the advocacy group.

“This year’s goal is 100, and we do plan to reach that 100,” she said.

The Relay For Life of the Greater Cranberry Township Area will take place July 23-24 at in Cranberry. To learn more about the Cranberry Relay for Life, visit the event’s website.