The Thursday Night Market was speckled with purple to help raise awareness for the fight against cancer.

Tristan Yates, co-chair of Relay For Life of Chico, organized the Paint the Town Purple event to raise awareness and participation for the Relay for Life team.

“We want the Chico community to feel connected to our relay and be a part of something that benefits so many people,” Yates said.

The Relay For Life walk, taking place June 7-8 at Pleasant Valley High School, is an overnight event that helps fight against cancer. More than 144,800 California residents will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The goal of the event was to get about 60 booths and businesses to participate by wearing and decorating in purple.

Though the market wasn’t quite “painted” purple, a variety of vendors and participants, such as Leigh Silva, a junior business administration major, were eager to support.

She helped pass shirts out to vendors the previous week to promote the event.

“This was the first time I had been a part of Paint the Town Purple, and I was surprised how many people were willing and excited about being involved,” Silva said.

Each vendor that was willing to participate was given two shirts to wear and encouraged to have other employees wear purple and decorate.

Jackie Aguilar, an employee at the Lodestar Farms booth, proudly wore her Relay for Life shirt.

“It’s for a really good cause, because a lot of people suffer from cancer,” Aguilar said. “It’s just a way to show your support.”

Ariel Hernandez can be reached at [email protected] or @Aj7uriel on Twitter.