With three weeks remaining before the big event, Relay For Life planning has been shifted into high gear.

The theme for this year’s Relay For Life is Superheroes. The event is Friday, May 1, from 6 p.m. to midnight at Vicksburg High School’s Memorial Stadium. The family friendly event will begin with an opening ceremony, followed by laps around the track, a solemn lighting of luminarias and conclude with a celebration of life. The Vicksburg Police Department will be providing security and all children 16 and under need to be accompanied by an adult.

Luminarias are available for $10 in memory of or in honor of loved ones. The last day to reserve a luminaria is April 20.

“We encourage everyone in the community to participate,” community manager Scarlet Fowler said.

“There’s still time to have a team.”

Pearl Carter was elated the bill for the equitable care on medication — House Bill 952 — passed the Senate and the House. The bill is expected to be signed by Governor Phil Bryant this month.

The bill passed with only three dissenting votes in the House and with only two dissenting votes in the Senate

“That’s almost a miracle folks,” advocacy lead for the 2nd Congressional District Pearl Carter previously said.

Currently, patients who take a drug at home that can be injected or administered intravenously at a health care providers office pay higher costs in Mississippi.

The bill is aimed to prohibit health plans and policies, including the state health insurance plan, that cover injected, intravenously administered and oral anti-cancer medications from requiring a higher co-payment, deductible or coinsurance amount for patient administered anti-cancer medications than they require for anti-cancer medications injected or intravenously administered by a health care provider.

“Everyone knows someone whose life has been impacted by cancer in some way. It’s free to signup a team and we hope to get some excitement going about the event,” Fowler said.

During the meeting teams discussed decorating their booths. Booths will be judged for creativity and the winning team will receive a trophy.

According to the Mississippi Department of Public Health, cancer is the second leading cause of death in Mississippi. In 2014, the American Cancer Society estimated 15,740 new cases of cancer would be diagnosed during the year in Mississippi.

In Mississippi, the most frequently diagnosed cancers include lung, prostate, breast, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. While there are over 200 types of cancer, some of the most common are lung, bladder, prostate, breast, colorectal, liver, endometrial, kidney, leukemia, melanoma of the skin, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, pancreatic and thyroid cancers.

To more information on how to become involved with Relay For Life contact Scarlet Fowler at scarlet.fowler@cancer.org or Tonya Nelson at tnelson@diamondjacks.com.