NORWICH — A charity event spawned in 2013 by local John Kampe made a sizable monetary contribution to The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life Wednesday.

While the concept has remained much the same, the event that has been held on Christmas evening for two years is now gaining momentum, participants and admiration among the community.

“It all started as an event for people without a place to go on Christmas,” said organizer John Kampe in a December interview. “Then it blossomed from there into a fundraiser.”

Kampe and his Annual Christmas Classic recently partnered with well-known event organizer Ryan Revoir who is looking forward to expanding upon the success of the past two events with Kampe.