For a small, rural town, Wellington (Colorado) sure packs a big one-two punch in the bout against cancer.

“It’s not about rooftops,” according to Relay For Life committee chair Shawna Stacy. “It’s about active participation and the level of communications from within a community.”

In the annual American Cancer Society benefit, Wellington is no lightweight when it comes to involvement and enthusiasm.

Sarah Forsythe, ACS community relationship manager in Greeley, reported Wellington had six relay teams in 2009 comprised of about 60 members, who raised more than $4,000. Last year, Forsythe said, 494 people on 49 teams in the Fort Collins area collected $68,367.

“We are very grateful for the passion and dedication Wellington residents bring to our event,” she said.

Wellington brought home two awards from last year’s Relay For Life: one for on-site fundraising, the other for best-themed campsite decoration.

Stacy counted 12 cancer survivors among the Wellington participants. Three of the town’s teams are under the auspices of Stacy’s Cancer Crusaders of Wellington, while real estate broker Linda Kinzli is not pulling any punches with her two Wellington Fellowship teams.

“My teams are absolutely wonderful. We’re a close-knit group,” said Kinzli, a four-year breast cancer survivor who said she’s doing well and wanted to give back. “We get out there and tell people we are here, and we are here to help. Relay is bringing awareness to Wellington.”

Teams are now forming for the 2010 Relay For Life of Fort Collins, which Stacy described as an overnight party to celebrate the hard work that survivors, caregivers and researchers have done all year long.

Relay for Life began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Wash., alternately ran and walked around a track for 24 hours to heighten awareness of and raise money for ACS.

Twenty-five years later, Relay For Life has grown into the world’s single largest anti-cancer fight, with more than 3.5 million people in 5,000 U.S. communities taking part, as well as contributors from 20 other countries — proof, Stacy said, that one person really can make a difference.

After two years of sharing The Ranch as a venue with Loveland’s relay organization, the local Relay For Life event is moving to Fort Collins High School, starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 5 and running through 8 a.m. June 6.

Because cancer never sleeps, all relays are overnighters.

“Bringing it home to celebrate more birthdays” is this year’s theme, which is meant to honor survivors like herself, Stacy said.

Even among fellow survivors, Stacy is unique, having been diagnosed with nine different kinds of cancer in less than a dozen years.

At age 27, Stacy went to the doctor to see about her increasingly irregular menstrual cycles. The next thing she knew she was battling ovarian, uterine and vaginal cancers. Next, it was a malignant tumor on her stomach lining, another on her left shoulder blade and a third on her left ear.

She has since undergone three rounds of breast cancer treatments after tumors were discovered on the side of one breast and two more underneath.

“In the beginning I was in shock; I was too young,” recalled Stacy, who as an adopted child has no recorded medical history. “It took two weeks for it to sink in. I went from shock to denial to anger to frustration to ‘Now what?’”

Upon each diagnosis, Stacy comes out swinging and ready to brawl against the newest cancer with what she called a “business mind.”

“I stay active or it wins,” said the ACS devotee who splits her volunteer time with the Marine Corps League. She also babysits for friends’ children in the afternoons. “Kids are my therapy. Volunteering is my life. These two organizations honor my husband and myself.”

John Stacy, 44, is a former Marine and maintenance supervisor for a Fort Collins nursing home. Shawna hired John in the same capacity when she was managing properties in Denver while on a break from working on her teaching degree.

Married 12 years, she said they wouldn’t know what normal is, as cancer has always been part of their life together.

“My biggest fear is dying without my husband, my best friend,” Stacy said. “I have no regrets except I wish we were able to have had our family.”

Stacy is convinced that learning to live with cancer has made her a better person.

“Cancer doesn’t define who I am, but it’s made me how I am: stronger, an individual,” she said. “But I can’t do it on my own. The idea is naÔve.”

Stacy endures three 1.5-hour sessions of chemotherapy per week, a feat she said is possible only because of a huge support system, including her “incredible” doctors in Fort Collins and a network of girlfriends who fortify her and her husband with casseroles and dinners.

One of those “really good friends” is her co-chair, Charity Jara, who was her client when Stacy worked at Creative Kids Corner.

Calling Relay For Life humbling, awe-inspiring, exciting and sad, Stacy said that despite her bravado, there were times when she was on the ropes.

Stacy is often seen around town sporting a cast. Currently she has one on her left leg and one on her right wrist. Due to the brittle nature of her bones after so many chemotherapy treatments, even the slightest fall can cause breakage. Her recent fall occurred when she was scraping ice from her vehicle’s windows.

“I can wiggle every tooth. I’m not a vain person, but when I had no eyelashes, no eyebrows, no hair…well…let’s just say I’m well-known for my collection of funky hats and scarves,” she said with a smile. “I motivate myself by remembering there’s always somebody worse off than me. Hey, I’m a fixer. I like to fix things.”

Stacy is determined there will be a cure for cancer before she dies. She also believes Wellington will have its own Relay For Life within five years.

Anyone is welcome to attend the first team meeting on Feb. 2, 6:30 p.m., at Harmony Presbyterian Church, 400 E. Boardwalk in Fort Collins. Monthly meetings are scheduled up until the June relay, in addition to another local “Filling Station Fiesta” that last May raised more than $600.

Visit www.FortCollinsRelay.org or call Stacy at 691-7016 for more information and to congratulate her for never throwing in the towel.