Franchising: Louisiana Ghostbusters Wrap up their Biggest Charity Event to Date with Resounding Success

After heavily promoting the event for months on television, radio, newspaper, the internet, and a lengthy word-of-mouth campaign at their preceding events, Relay for Life had finally arrived.

With blistered feet, and sore shoulders and legs, the Louisiana Ghostbusters wrapped up, this weekend, a tireless vigil of doing laps to battle cancer for the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" in Franklin, LA.  Relay for Life takes place in the spring in many dozens of cities around the country.  The concept is simple:  Cancer never quits, so for an entire evening and into the morning hours, teams all over the nation take to the track to maintain constant presence in defiance of the dreaded disease and all of its forms.

Beginning at 2pm Saturday afternoon, the Louisiana Ghostbusters were given the honor of leading the first lap while accompanied by some 28 other Relay teams, live music, fireworks, luminaries, food, and many other forms of motivation to keep going.

By the following morning LAGB was the only team to have maintained a constant presence for all 16 hours of the Relay, and they did so with with 2 members on the track at all times. They ended the event as they had begun it, geared up, proton packs humming, and as light on their feet as was possible.  It is estimated the team walked in excess of 65 miles over the 16 hour jaunt. With occasionally as many as 10 busters present on the track at a time that number could easily have been as high as 85+ miles. It is also estimated that the Relay for life brought in over $44,400.00 in funds to fuel cancer research.  The Louisiana Ghostbusters total as a team was in excess of $2050.00, with money being raised from parade appearances, bracelet sales (feature their patron cancer patients Rachel Wickman and Sarah Johnson), solicited donations, sponsorships, gift shop sales, and "suit up as a buster" FX Photographs.

This event was particularly momentous for the Louisiana Franchise for several reasons:  First, it was the largest total every donated by Louisiana Ghostbusters to a single event.  Second, the team got a surprise visit from their patron cancer patron, Rachel Wickman, for whom the "Rachel and Sarah's Army" bracelets sold by the team was named.  Third, LAGB gave away its first every Challenge Coin, in an private contest within the organization.  This coin is identical to the ones being given away in the upcoming Golden Ghost Fan Film Awards contest. Fourth, this was the first all-night event for the team which demonstrated endurance and dedication to their cause by being the only one of 28 teams to keep to the track for all 16 hours of the event.  Special recognition goes to the Franklin Fire Department who maintained vigil with LAGB throughout the night, and often took to the track with us in the wee hours, even doing an extra lap when the event was officially over.

Photos of the event can be found on the LAGB Facebook Gallery  or on their website at Louisianaghostbusters.net

In attendance of the event were Acting Manager Ben Langlinais, Assistant Manager Jack Dupuy, Franchise Founder Ryan Burke, Mississippi Ghostbusters President David Johnson, Art Director Savann Mok, Jennifer Burke, Joe Martin, John Kupsa, Emily Harris, Krista Dupuy, and LAGB Mascot Bandit "A. Beast" Burke.

The Louisiana Ghostbusters is a non-profit charity group and fan club of the Ghostbusters franchise of entertainment and is in no way affiliated with Sony Entertainment or Columbia Pictures.  They have raised, in their first year of operation, over $8000 in funds for various charities such as the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the Alzheimer's Association, and the Animal Protection and Welfare Society.  All work done through LAGB is voluntary and they maintain no operating funds or payroll systems of any kind.