Last month, we produced our annual Profile edition called Common Bonds. In it, we talked about the things that bind us together as a community and learned the power of one. We learned how one person, Denise Case, was connected by three degrees of separation to 16 individuals and how we may be connected to Ms. Case as well through them.

The Miss-Lou Relay for Life is in the midst of fundraising for the American Cancer Society. The Miss-Lou Relay for Life was named No. 2 in the nation’s Top 10 per Capita list and No. 1 spot per capita in both the statewide and regional categories for their efforts last year in raising $249,920.52. Many teams throughout the Miss-Lou bonded together in their efforts to make 2009 a successful year for Relay.

Our newspaper’s bond to the Miss-Lou Relay for Life started many, many years ago and was spearheaded by an employee who suffered from a bout with cancer. Every year, she and a few others would work to produce a special Relay for Life section to assist in promoting the event. Not only did we produce the section, our news department worked tirelessly to cover the event as it unfolded during the night.

A few years ago, members of our staff formed our first Relay team. Being a new kid on the block, we kicked off a penny drive to raise money. In the years to follow, team captain Cassie Strickland came up with idea to land pink flamingos in yards throughout the Miss-Lou. The Flocking for a Cure idea has evolved over the years and now we offer “anti-flocking insurance” and several flocking options.

As a part of our team’s effort to raise more money for Relay for Life, we’re asking everyone to become a fan of The Natchez Democrat on Facebook. Our newspaper will donate 10 cents for every Facebook fan signed up by the start of the Relay, on Friday, May 7. By becoming our fan, you’ll be a fan of the fight against cancer, which touches almost everyone in our audience.

Our goal is to have at least 5,000 fans by the start of the Relay event, and, if we go over that goal, we’ll pledge to keep the donation going until we hit 10,000. This will be in addition to other Relay fundraisers that we are doing. Simply log into your Facebook page, type The Natchez Democrat in the search box, then click “become a fan.” After you become a fan, click the “suggest to friends” button and invite your entire friends list to join you as a fan, too.

Let’s make a common bond between Relay for Life, The Natchez Democrat and its Facebook fans to see how many lives we can touch through our efforts to raise money for cancer research. Let’s see how many degrees of separation we can create.

Sam King is the circulation manager for The Natchez Democrat and a member of the newspaper’s Relay for Life team.