TEEN RISES TO THE CHALLENGE:RECENT MARIA CARRILLO GRAD TAKES REINS OF AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY'S ANNUAL TWO-DAY FUNDRAISER IN WINDSOR

Organizers of Windsor's annual American Cancer Society fundraiser might have been apprehensive when a high school senior offered to organize their event.

But as it turns out, 18-year-old Emily Brandeburg is busting any and all preconceptions they might have had when she took the reins of the group's signature event. Their 2010 Relay for Life began Saturday and ends this morning.

"When she first said she was going to do this, it was like, 'Oh my gosh! She's really going to take this on,' " said relay volunteer Diane McDowell, 65. "But she has been wonderful. "She has been full of good ideas . . . She has been probably one of the best event chairs to work with."

Brandeburg participated in three previous relays, including two as team captain, before accepting an invitation to take charge of the two-day event that raises money for cancer research and local services.

Brandeburg said it never occurred to her to be overwhelmed. "Relay is something I'm just really passionate about," she said, "and I find so much joy out of participating in it."

Relay for Life events are held each year in 5,000 communities around the nation and involve some 3.5 million participants, according to the American Cancer Society. Team members take turns walking or running a track for 24 hours in recognition of cancer's unrelenting, round-the-clock assault. Volunteer work is just part of the landscape of Brandeburg's busy life. She is a competitive figure skater, an employee at Snoopy's Home Ice rink, a part-time nanny and recent Maria Carrillo High School grad.

She was 11 when she served on the Volunteer Youth Corps for the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, helping to plan countywide clean-ups, celebrations, fundraisers and volunteer efforts.

She also has been a grade-school tutor, Special Olympics skating coach, box office volunteer at Santa Rosa's 6th Street Playhouse and Amnesty International member, among other volunteer duties.

She participated in her first Relay for Life in Santa Rosa at age 12, and later created a team in honor of Michelle Van Dyke, a figure skating teacher and coach who lost her life to breast cancer in 2007.

Though still a resident of Santa Rosa, Brandeburg signed up her team, Michelle's Ice Angels, for Windsor's relay in 2008 and again in 2009.

She also served on the organizing committee last year and, during the event, shadowed chairwoman Stacy Iversen, who has captained at least six area relays over the years.

"Basically at the end I said, 'Hey, how would you like to chair the event next year?' " Iversen remembers. "She said OK, and I was shocked."

Brandeburg credits her parents with modeling hard work and a willingness to tackle whatever needs to be done. Her mother, Heather, is a health care consultant, her father, Michael, is a jazz musician.

She describes herself as "really action-oriented."

"I love doing things. I always love being busy," she said. "I love talking to people, I love being social, and I like being a part of the big scheme of it."

"Emily's doing a great job," Iversen said, "so she has really stepped up."

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.