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.

“The idea is to grow the event, give it a much larger presence among community members and turn it into something bigger than it currently is all in the name of raising funds for Relay for Life,” said Revoir. “Johnny [Kampe] and I are discussing ways to bring local companies on board to make that a reality. The Christmas Classic is a great way to get the community behind raising awareness and supporting the Relay for Life.