Specialty plates could benefit Cancer Society
By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
October 26, 2004
Specialty license plates will benefit the American Cancer Society's Mid-South Division, which includes Mississippi if enough people want them.
Lauderdale County Relay for Life is encouraging drivers to buy the license plates for $31.
Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society's annual fund-raising campaign, made up of teams of volunteers who work to raise money for the organization. The campaign culminates in an all-night walk-a-thon.
Money raised for the cancer society is used for cancer research, educational resources for the public, and services for cancer patients.
Lauderdale County's Relay for Life is consistently ranked among the top fund-raising events in the county's population category within the American Cancer Society's six state Mid-South Division, which includes Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
More than $338,000 was raised locally this year, and $300 million was raised through Relay for Life campaigns nationwide.
The specialty license plates will display both American Cancer Society and Relay for Life logos.
Before the license plates can be produced, however, the state requires that at least 200 are sold in advance.
Dennis Warren, income development representative for the American Cancer Society, said 70 specialty license plates have already been sold.
He said if at least 200 are sold, the American Cancer Society will notify applicants when the license plates can be picked up from county tax collectors' offices.
Applications for the specialty tag are available at the local American Cancer Society office. Checks must be made payable to the Mississippi State Tax Commission, but Warren said the checks will not be submitted to the tax commission until 200 are sold.
Of the $31 fee for the specialty tag, $24 will go to the American Cancer Society Mid-South Division, according to state law.
The law also requires $2 of each specialty tag fee to go to the state highway fund for repair, maintenance, construction or reconstruction of highways. One dollar of each specialty tag fee will go to the Mississippi Fire Fighter's Memorial Burn Center Fund. The rest of the fee will be dispersed as state and county taxes.
Interested in displaying a specialty license plate to benefit the American Cancer Society's Mid-South Division? The state will manufacture them if 200 people sign up. Pick up an application at the ACS office in Meridian at 4927 Poplar Springs Drive. For more information, call Dennis Warren at the American Cancer Society at 482-0082.
