Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are well-known among post-Thanksgiving shoppers, but some may not be familiar with Giving Tuesday, which is Nov. 29 this year.Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving. It’s recognized on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States and kicks off the giving and charitable nature of the holiday season.Relay For Life of Warren County and its organizer, American Cancer Society, are encouraging companies and individuals to donate to the organization on Giving Tuesday.By doing so, they will help people in Warren County benefit from programs, services and research brought to them by the American Cancer Society and Relay For Life of Warren County.November also is National Family Caregivers Month. Most caregivers aren’t trained for the job, but they serve as a lifeline when a cancer patient needs it most.Katie Rowan, Relay For Life of Warren County committee member and team captain of Team Every Step Counts, is a caregiver herself, and she’s had friends and family touched by both lung cancer and carcinoid cancer.“Being from a smaller town, I think we have all felt the effects of lung cancer in our community,” Rowan said. “Anyone who has lived in Warrenton for even the shortest amount of time knew our beloved School Resource Officer, Sgt. Carol Dieckman, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010.“Unfortunately, since there hadn’t been enough research done to find a cure for lung cancer yet, Carol is no longer with us.”November also is an awareness month for several different cancers, including lung, carcinoid, pancreatic and stomach cancer.According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women, yet it’s also the most preventable. Over 200,000 new cases of lung cancer were diagnosed in 2015, and more than 150,000 every year result in death.Carcinoid cancer is a very rare, slow-growing tumorous type of cancer, being the diagnosis of fewer than 20,000 cases per year. These tumors usually begin in the stomach, appendix, small intestines, colon, rectum or lungs.Symptoms of this type of cancer don’t appear until late in the disease and are very vague. Treatment for carcinoid cancer is surgery and medication.Rowan has been affected by carcinoid cancer.“Just three years ago, a very close family member of mine was diagnosed with carcinoid cancer,” she said. “This cancer shook me to the core and hit way too close to home. But I am extremely happy to say that my family member who was diagnosed is currently cancer free and doing great.”The other two cancers November represents are pancreatic and stomach cancer, which are both considered rare due to the low number of cases diagnosed every year, just 200,000 for each.“When something affects fewer than 200,000 or even 20,000, it doesn’t seem like it could be considered rare,” Rowan commented. “But when you consider there are around 12.7 million cancer diagnoses every year, I guess those numbers can be considered as rare or very rare.”Rowan hopes to continue to spread awareness of all the different types of cancer every month starting in January 2017, and continuing year-round leading up to the Relay, which will be Saturday, Aug. 26, at Black Hawk Middle School for its 20th year.Fundraising for the 2017 Relay has already begun, including two all-day fundraisers at Wendy’s in Warrenton Monday, Dec. 12, and at 54th Street Grill in Wentzville Monday, Dec. 19.Both businesses will donate 15 percent back to Relay For Life of Warren County, but patrons will need to submit a flier to pass along the donation.Fliers are available online at www.relayforlife.org/warrencomo or www.facebook.com/rflofwarrenco.For more information or to get involved with the local Relay For Life, contact Kanna Rook, American Cancer Society staff partner, 636-866-4884 or kanna.rook@cancer.org, or Relay For Life of Warren County local volunteer Carie Biggs, 636-485-2391 or cariebiggs@gmail.com.Relay for Life