CHARLOTTE -- Under a late spring sun, tears of joy and tears of sadness were a constant Friday evening during a Relay for Life event in Charlotte.

The American Cancer Society's main fundraising event started a new chapter, holding its first event at the Ballantyne Morrison YMCA location.

The relay honored cancer survivors and also remembered those who lost their battles for disease.

About 20 fundraising teams spent months raising a combined $35,000 for cancer research.
Survivors say the outpouring of kindness gives hope to those still on the road to recovery.

"It's a celebration of life, and it's a time of remembrance, all the people that we've lost to cancer, which by the way, is less and less every year, we are making scads of progress with cancer research," Janis Rogers, a cancer survivor, said.

Nearly 12 million people in the United States are living with cancer.

The next relay for life event in Charlotte will take place June 9 at Alexander Graham middle school.