When Farmingdale resident Tom Hickey was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1999, he was determined to not let the illness be the "death sentence that it once was."

A cancer survivor for just over eight years now, Hickey, 49, first heard about the Farmingdale Relay For Life, an overnight event designed to bring together those who have been touched by cancer in the community, about four years ago.

"I heard a couple of people at work talking about the company team one day and it sounded like fun and just seemed like the right thing to do," he said.

At the Relay event, they celebrate survivorship and raise money to help the American Cancer Society in its mission to save lives, help those who have been touched by cancer, and empower individuals to fight back. During the event, teams of people gather and take turns walking or running laps. Each team tries to keep at least one team member on the track at all times. Now in its fifth year, the Farmingdale Relay for Life is set for May 4-5, once again on the Farmingdale State College great lawn.

His first year participating, Hickey was a member of a team from his job, BAE Systems, where he is an operations program manager.

"The second year I served as captain of that same team, added two more teams from the job and three teams from my church, St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Farmingdale. In the third year, I moved up to serve on the event committee as the team recruitment chairman," Hickey said.

This year, Hickey is serving as the overall event chairperson.

"I guess the biggest reason I relay is because as a survivor, I think it is important to let people see me out there, healthy and living life again so as to show them that there is life after diagnosis," he said.

Being in charge of the overall event involves a lot of organization and reaching out to people. While the community has responded favorably to the event in the past, Hickey said, "there is so much more that we can do."

"It is one of our main focuses to continue to grow the event and the community's involvement," he added. "We are already in talks with both the Village of Farmingdale mayor's office and the Farmingdale Schools superintendent's office about next year. This year, the Town of Oyster Bay, including Supervisor John Venditto, has been extremely supportive of the event. They have agreed to help us publicize not only the Farmingdale event, but all Relays throughout the town and be an advocate for cancer screening tests, education, and all the things to help prevent the next person from getting the disease. Mr. Venditto has been named the honorary co-chairperson of this year's event."

Supervisor Venditto said he was pleased to be honorary co-chairperson and urged residents to participate.

"Relay events raise valuable funds for the many programs and research projects supported by the Society," he added. "If you can't be a part of it, find someone to sponsor. Your support will go a long way in the fight to find a cure for this disease."

A lifelong resident of Farmingdale, Hickey and his wife Susan have three children, Jennifer Scarpella (husband Anthony), Tommy and Christine.

For more information on how to get involved in Relay for Life or other services of the American Cancer Society log onto www.cancer.org or call 1-800-ACS-2345.