VALDOSTA – Monday, Nov. 12, would have marked Undrae B. “Drae” Thomas’ 36th birthday.

Instead of celebrating his birthday, family and friends will raise cancer awareness Saturday, Nov. 10, while remembering a life lost too soon.

For the past seven years, Drae Day has been about raising cancer awareness, collecting blood donations and celebrating and commemorating the life and passing of 28-year-old “Drae” Thomas, his family said.

The Eighth Annual Drae Day is scheduled for 1-6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, James Saunders Park off River Street.

His mother, Barbara Thomas, has emphasized the importance of blood donations to saving cancer patients’ lives.

“Cancer patients are the No. 1 recipients of blood donations,” according to event organizers. “… In the 10-15 minutes it takes to give blood, you can give three people a lifetime.”

Drae Thomas’ family understands the importance of blood donations.

In December 2010, he was diagnosed with cancer. He had received the hereditary sickle cell trait from his father, Eubia Undrae Walker, who died in 1998 at the age of 36.

Renal medullary carcinoma is most common in sickle cell patients, and that was Drae Thomas’ diagnosis, along with this particular cancer’s insidious characteristics: aggressive, difficult to treat, often already spread and spreading upon diagnosis, according to the family.

Drae Thomas lived only four months past his diagnosis.

He died April 7, 2011.

Barbara Thomas wanted something to commemorate her son, to remember his life. The life of a young man who had been healthy and athletic, who had played Wildcat football in high school.

“He was so young and seemed so healthy,” Mrs. Thomas has said. “You never know. You just don’t know.”

She developed Drae Day to fall near her son’s Nov. 12 birthday. She held the first one in fall 2011.

Drae Day emphasizes the giving and the remembering but it is also a day for celebrating life. The event includes food and refreshments, speakers, games, a raffle and entertainment.

“We want to continue the legacy of Undrae,” according to organizers. “If you do have cancer or have survived cancer, come out and celebrate life. This is in memory of and for those who are fighting cancer. Something that is positive and not negative for the community.”

Admission: Free. Donations will be accepted with proceeds going to South Georgia Medical Center Foundation, Barbara Thomas said.