There is the common saying that “every little bit counts” and nothing could be more truthful when it comes to finding a cure for cancer.

Through proper funding — both at the governmental level and through charitable organizations — what was once a fight heavily favoring the disease has begun to change momentum to the patients.

New technologies, new procedures and new drugs have been developed to make some variations of cancer very beatable, and allowed those in the medical research community to make significant strides on even the most perilous of cancers.

On Friday, May 14, local cancer survivors, patients and their friends and family will join together at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s track for the annual Suffolk Rockin’ Relay for Life event — not only to celebrate life and the eventual victory over cancer, but also to raise thousands of dollars for further research.

In addition to the Suffolk News-Herald’s ongoing coverage of the Relay event and promoting team fundraising events throughout the coming weeks, the newspaper is joining in with a fundraising effort of its own.

“We wanted to try to come up with a fundraiser that was easy for people to contribute and piggyback on an item of near everyday life that is extremely popular. And that is Facebook,” Suffolk News-Herald editor Tim Reeves said. “Over the past few months, we have begun to really focus on the social media portions of our business. We want to further grow our overall audience and fan count and felt we could help raise some money for Relay for Life in the process.”

As part of the “We Give A Dime” campaign, the newspaper will contribute 10 cents for every fan it registers on its Facebook fan page by Friday, May 7. Readers can find the Suffolk News-Herald on Facebook, and simply clicking on the “become a fan” link at the top of the page will add another 10 cents to the total.

You can also find the Suffolk News-Herald’s Facebook fan page by logging on to www.suffolknewsherald.com and clicking on the “Find Us on Facebook” link on the upper right hand portion of the page.

“We already have a number of people who receive regular updates through Facebook and we want to build that number even more,” Reeves said. “But with this campaign, I want us to be able to raise a lot of money for Relay.”

Existing fans will count toward the fundraising effort as well, Reeves said.

“If you’re already a fan, then you have helped with this campaign,” he said. “But, invite others to join and donate.”

The Suffolk Rockin’ Relay will be held Friday, May 14 and Saturday, May 15 at NSA. This year’s Relay for Life goal is $212,000.

For more information on the “We Give A Dime” campaign, call 539-3437.