GREAT BARRINGTON — Ashley Sonsini gets to know the brother she never met a little better at Berkshire County's Relay for Life each year.

Eric died of cancer at 3 years old before she was born. But every year, surrounded by dozens of relatives during the event, she feels a little closer to him.

Eric would have been 18 this year.

"It makes me sad that I missed out on meeting him because everyone has their own memories with him, but I don't," Sonsini said. "Just being here helps me feel more connected with him."

For 20 years, her family has participated in Relay for Life to honor Eric while also celebrating her grandfather, a cancer survivor who later died of other causes.

Survivor Sally Rice gave a power speech about her experience as a cancer survivor Saturday at the annual relay got life.

Survivors, caregivers and supporters filled Monument Mountain Regional High School Saturday, spending the day raising money for the American Cancer Society while remembering those affected by cancer.

Sonsini said her family has never shied away from talking about Eric. Instead, they make a point of sharing stories that allow each new generation to know him, even those who never met him.

White paper bags with the names of loved ones lined the school's hallways as participants walked lap after lap, each step for someone they had lost, someone still fighting or someone who survived.

Survivors wearing purple sashes walked alongside caregivers, family members and friends as teams completed laps throughout the day, raising money for the American Cancer Society through raffles, games, craft sales and donations.

After a sudden storm two years ago sent tents flying across the fields and forced participants to scramble indoors, organizers moved the event inside the school.

This year's event filled the gymnasium and auditorium with activities ranging from carnival games and handmade crafts to live music, karaoke and performances by the Berkshire Be-Witches.

While fundraising brought everyone together, many participants said the event was equally about hope, remembrance and community.

Surviver Albert Adams plays a game at the annual Relay for Life Saturday.

"It's an emotional day," survivor Melissa Matarazzo said as she stood beside her father, Albert Adams, both wearing purple survivor sashes.

Matarazzo said she often tells others to trust themselves when something feels wrong.

"If I didn't advocate for myself, maybe I wouldn't be here," she said.

Earlier in the day, fellow survivor Sally Rice shared a similar message after describing her experience with triple-negative breast cancer.

"I was trying to remain hopeful, but I also knew my body," Rice told the crowd. "Be your own health advocate."

Rice said she is participating in two research studies made possible through funding from the American Cancer Society.

"We all have been affected by cancer, or we will have someone in our life who is," she said. "Not everything about this experience is bad. ... You meet so many more people who become like family."

For Maureen O'Callaghan Scholl, she found hope at her first Relay for Life in New York in 2012 as a recent survivor of ovarian cancer. During the survivors' lap, she watched people carry signs marking how long they had lived since their diagnoses.

"I saw everybody carrying a sign of how long they'd survived," she said. "There were people who survived three months, there were people who survived 20 years, and it was so hopeful that I felt like my death sentence maybe wasn't going to happen."

When she later became involved with the Berkshire relay, she noticed the bead necklaces she had used to count laps at her first event were missing.

Bags labeled with the names of people who had cancer lined the halls of Monument Mountain high school Saturday.

So she started making them herself.

Participants purchase necklaces with purple beads spelling out "2026" and add another bead after each lap they complete. As the hours pass, the line of beads grows longer, offering a small, visible reminder of each lap taken in support of those affected by cancer.

"It's just a way to remember that you don't have to give up," O'Callaghan Scholl said.

She also hopes people facing cancer remember they don't have to go through treatment alone.

"People want to help," she said. "Unless you ask them, they can't. It makes them feel good to be able to do something, and it comes back to you. Find a person. There's someone out there you can rely on."

That sense of community is what keeps co-chair Ray Gardino returning year after year.

Saturday marked Gardino's 10th year leading the Berkshire County Relay for Life. His wife, Terrie, is a 20-year survivor of thyroid cancer. Last year, just days before the relay, his daughter was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Planning the annual event, he said, is "like putting on a wedding every year."

Gardino said the most powerful part comes at the end of the day.

"My favorite time is the luminaria ceremony," he said. "We have four different speakers, one of them is a doctor. Then we go outside, we have the tiki torches, and we walk silently with a bagpiper playing in the background."

The ceremony concludes with a silent lap of remembrance.

Among those being remembered was a close friend Gardino lost shortly before last year's relay.

"She lasted like four extra years," he said, reflecting on the treatments that gave her more time with family and friends.

Looking around at the volunteers, survivors and families gathered together, Gardino smiled.

"We have good people here," he said. "They're like family."