Woodstock Relay For Life: 2016

Sunday, 4 December 2016

Fill piggy bank with coins for the Canadian Cancer Society's volunteer drivers program

Pigs Of Hope campaign recognizes that many cancer patients require assistance to attend medical appointments

Oxford County currently has about 40 volunteer drivers

Piggy Banks have always been a great place to store your change, but for the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) locally the change is to now save your coins and collect dollars for their volunteer drivers’ program by using a piggy bank you pick up at the CCS office.

The program is called Pigs Of Hope.

With family members often living outside of the area, it can be difficult for some cancer patients to visit their doctors for out-of-town appointments or receive medical care such as chemotherapy.

The CCS has a valuable group of volunteer drivers – they are reimbursed for gas, so the average cost per trio is about $50. If you have spare time, you could consider volunteering for this integral service.

This past weekend I talked to a gentleman who said after he retires, he plans on volunteering with the CCS in this exact capacity. It’s a way to give back to the community, but most certainly make a big difference for one family.

Those with a cancer diagnosis require assistance for travelling often, but also often need a friendly face to talk to before and after treatments.

“Cancer changes everything,” says CCS Oxford County community office manager Jan Cunningham in noting that all the money from Pigs Of Hope will be directed to the local drivers program.

The idea is to adopt a piggy bank, and you may decorate it and maybe even give your ‘pet’ a name, and then feed it your spare change.

Jan Cunningham from the CCS on Daytime Oxford show

on Rogers TV with hosts Jerry and Sarah Acchione

The program, however, is very serious.

“One in five cancer patients can not get to their cancer medical appointments,” added Cunningham. “The Canadian Cancer Society has stepped up with this volunteer drivers program to alleviate the stress of transportation that a patient might have. We are pleased to offer this program and all funds collected from the Pigs Of Hope program will be directed to this program.”

Cunningham, who was a guest on the Rogers TV show Daytime Oxford and was also interviewed on the Heart FM morning show last week to chat about this initiative, knows how important this unique monetary fund is.

“Before your cancer diagnosis you may have been very self sufficient, but now you’re reaching out for support,” said Cunningham.

You can collect dollars and coins until Jan 10 and it can be ideally used at your home as you welcome many visitors over the Christmas season, but also to be displayed at a place of business.

Since the average cost of one volunteer driver appointment is $50, the CCS suggests a minimum of a $50 donation when you return your Piggy Bank to the association. Drivers are most certainly volunteers, but they are reimbursed for gas.

A story in the Woodstock Sentinel-Review noted the following stat: Last year in Oxford County, 39 drivers travelled over 70,000 km, driving more than 100 patients to 1,222 cancer-related appointments.

Call

519 537-5592

Visit

65 Springbank Ave North

You may also volunteer to be a driver for cancer patients

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL EVENT

Cool Runnings, by the way, back in late October, which was a cross-country run through Roth Park on the banks of the Thames River in Woodstock, raised $14,112.

Keep an eye on this space for updates on Relay For Life in 2017, which is June 9 at 7 p.m. at CASS.

LINKS:

http://www.heartfm.ca/news/local-news/pigs-of-hope/

http://www.rogerstv.com/show?lid=12&rid=15&sid=6397&gid=264977

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2016/11/22/canadian-cancer-society-bringing-pigs-of-hope-campaign-to-oxford-county

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2016/10/22/cool-runnings-draws-142-runners-and-raises-close-to-13000-for-the-canadian-cancer-society-in-oxford

TWITTER:

@ccsoxfordcounty

@rflwoodstock

Thursday, 24 November 2016

What did Mark Hierlihy have to say at Oxford CCS office earlier this month?

Ontario executive director for Canadian Cancer Society was in Woodstock earlier this month

Changes for Relay For Life organizing committee will make annual event more volunteer driven

By Mark Schadenberg

The Oxford community office for the Canadian Cancer Society had a guest visitor earlier this month, and it seemed like a timely meeting to begin the process of organizing Relay For Life for 2017.

In attendance at a 2-hour meeting was the new Ontario Executive Director of the CCS, Mark Hierlihy.

The round table discussion, which included an easel with brain-storming thoughts and ideas, was moderated by Hierlihy as CCS staffers (Jan Cunningham, Pam Noels and Kelly Jorgensen), and committee volunteers from various CCS events and programs shared their ideas about the past, present and future.

Discussed were all facets of fundraising and volunteer efforts by the CCS, so daffodil sales were on the agenda, and so was donating time and effort in other capacities such as door-to-door canvassing, driving cancer patients to appointments, and most certainly Relay For Life.

Mark Hierlihy

The Woodstock Relay For Life committee was well represented by myself, Deb Moss, Marie Bowerman, and province-wide organizer John Hunt.

I was quite impressed by Mark Hierlihy in all directions of the conversation, including when he admitted Relay For Life needs more input from local organizers, participants and contributors, and less hands-on planning from the provincial office.

“Each Relay has its local flavor – local spirit, and each community can make Relay its own.

Hierlihy explained the provincial office will certainly set what he described as “guard rails” as if to use a curved road analogy, or guidelines for each Relay event.

The impact of Relay continues to be the luminaries and the accompanying luminary ceremony, the importance of recognizing the survivors’ lap and its emotional moments, and the concept of teams or groups bonding together in the framework of unity (family, friends, co-workers, etc) to assist the overall cause, which obviously encompasses raising money for CCS research projects.

With a lot of talk at the meeting about reaching top-of-awareness of Relay For Life and therefore maintaining participation numbers and dollars raised, Hierlihy talked about “engaging the next generation.”

Also, anyone donating money, admits Hierlihy, is expecting a maximum amount to be directed to the cause.

“Relay committees should be volunteer driven and staff supported,” he said, which is a 180-degree reversal from the past couple years. Less CCS office staff, admits Hierlihy, is one reason for the return of focus to the organizing committee’s efforts.

Hierlihy described a comparison used by former provincial and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty (Passed away in 2014) about trying to avoid a headache when one eye is looking at an object with a magnifying glass, while the other eye is looking through a telescope.

Hierlihy reminded the CCS staff and volunteers gathered that the organization has had many “huge break-throughs” in finding a cure and that the CCS funds “many of the best current research projects with progress seen in many areas of treatments”.

The Relay slogan or tagline will shift again. Hash tabs such as #WhyIRelay, #AcceptTheBaton and #ReadySetRelay will still be used along with the poster slogan “It’s A Journey. Go The Distance”, but the emphasis will now be on a new slogan which will be unveiled publicly in the near future.

()()()()()()()()()()
If you would like to volunteer with Relay For Life
set for June 9 in 2017in Woodstock
contact Kelly Jorgensen today at 519 537-5592
or email: kjorgensen@ontario.cancer.ca
or contact Mark Schadenberg at 519 537-1553
or email: mschadenberg@rogers.com

Monday, 31 October 2016

Relay For Life begins to plan for 2017 event

Canadian Cancer Society major fundraiser always seeks new volunteers

'Accept The Baton' is slogan for Relay, but also is an invitation to join CCS organizing committee

By Mark Schadenberg

I’ve seen all the statistics and read many reports, and time and time again after you put the human face of friends and family to cancer, you quickly realize this battle must be won. It’s a daunting story.

The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) notes that about 2 in every 5 Canadians will develop some sort of cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.

The CCS not only produces an annual update on statistics, but has a 14-member panel of doctors tracking trends – successes, implementations, and on-going research projects.

Cancer studies at all levels delving into a hopeful cure must be funded and treatments improved. Anyone with a diagnosis knows their journey will take them into many directions – operations, chemotherapy, medicines, radiation, MRIs, physical therapy and rehab, pain management, possibly participating in treatment trials, and of course more tests and consultations with doctors and countless specialists.

Relay For Life

Committee Meeting

Wednesday, Nov 2, 7 p.m.

CCS office at 65 Springbank Ave N

See you there!

The survival rates continue to improve year-by-year, says the latest CCS report on numbers, but on the side of the truth 2016 will see more than 200,000 Canadians with a diagnosis.

Those numbers are difficult to comprehend, so that is why the CCS and especially the Relay For Life event, wants people to remember their friends and families who are battling cancer.

Kay-Lynn Stevens

My focus would be to always follow stories about childhood cancers. At the 17th annual Relay last June in Woodstock, Kay-Lynn Stevens was the keynote speaker and she is just 19 years old and has been fighting cancer off-and-on since the age of 5.

I also think of Rachel MacDonald.

Rachel’s mom Melodie, who I worked with at K-102 Radio in Woodstock many years ago, described her daughter’s on-going treatments in an email to me on Halloween day when most kids are thinking about candy and costumes. Melodie said:

“Rachel is a fighter and will need to be for the rest of her life due to the after affects of the brain surgeries and treatments she has had, but thankful she is still alive and can keep fighting on this journey. We have an early morning, 7:45 appointment today start at Children's Hospital for tests and 2 more MRIs. Later in November, we have another 3 appointment days at Children's Hospital.”

RELAY FOR LIFE
At Relay For Life, you can purchase a luminary to remember someone who lost their battle or buy a luminary to congratulate someone who continues their battle.

As a baseball fan, I know the numbers tell the story – paint the picture, which indicates 1 in 4 Canadians will die from cancer, and it is therefore estimated in 2016 more than 78,000 Canadians will die from cancer.

The CCS helps to fund more than 300 projects currently with more than $40 million directed to searching for cures and finding answers to very complex medical cases ranging from tumours to blood disorders to lymphoma to bone marrow to . . . The causes of cancer seem to be endless and include the surrounding environment and even hereditary traits.

The mandate of the CCS is also about methods of prevention or at least reminders and education – diet, stop smoking programs, avoiding the sun and UV rays, and sadly in 2016 occupational exposure is still a cause for cancer.

VOLUNTEER

There are many ways you can volunteer with the CCS of Oxford. The local association requires volunteers to drive patients to appointments. You can canvas for donations, sell daffodils, or assist in organizing events such as Grand Desserts (which is this week).

I have committed for 2017 to be a co-chair for Relay For Life in Woodstock. I’ve been a committee member for 8 years and I am willing to accept this challenge (accept the baton from last year’s co-chairs Sandy Smith and Deb Moss, who are staying on the committee in the food tent roles) as I have chaired organizational groups in the present and past (Woodstock recreation advisory committee, Woodstock Sports Celebrity Dinner, and way back in 1996 the Farewell Reunion when the Perry Street Arena closed -- just to name 3).

We seek volunteers for our main committee, but also the many departments – food tent, survivors’ tent, kids’ area, luminaries, logistics (Setting up the tents, hooking up the hydro, and signage, etc), publicity, and maybe 2 other of the most important roles – sponsorship and corporate donations, plus team recruitment and retention.

Speaking for myself, I’m curious why the CCS focus 3 years ago became more of a concentration on individual and families registering, and at the same time departed somewhat from the strong team building atmosphere which made Relay so strong for its first dozen years or so. Last year, emphasis on team registrations was again the focus.

It would be great to have 50 teams (register as a team of perhaps 4 members for 2017 and gradually build up your numbers), 400 participants, 2,000 luminaries sold, and raising over $150,000.

Relay For Life and the CCS office of Oxford County require your volunteers efforts – your expertise, your time, your dedication and your enthusiasm.

LINKS:

www.cancer.ca

http://www.cancer.ca/~/media/cancer.ca/CW/cancer%20information/cancer%20101/Canadian%20cancer%20statistics/Canadian-Cancer-Statistics-2016-EN.pdf?la=en

http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-journey/advanced-cancer/?region=on

http://www.heartfm.ca/news/local-news/relay-for-life-woodstock-raises-over-141000/

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2016/06/12/relay-for-life-raises-140600-for-canadian-cancer-society-during-the-17th-annual-woodstock-fundraiser

http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2016/06/14/woodstock-cancer-survivor-john-hunt-is-one-of-two-canadians-to-receive-the-prestigious-award

www.inspiremagazine.ca

http://reportersnotes.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-aftermath-is-messy.html?spref=fb

www.jabobsstory.ca

Contact today:

Canadian Cancer Society

65 Springbank Ave North

519 537-5592

Call the CCS today: Kelly Jorgensen or email her at: kjorgensen@ontario.cancer.ca.
You can also send a generic email to oxford@ontario.cancer.ca
if you have any questions
or maybe have recently received a cancer diagnosis yourself.

Thursday, 23 June 2016

Lots of pictures to celebrate Relay for 2016

Relay For Life in Woodstock was June 11 at CASS

Canadian Cancer Society charitable event raised over $140,000

The old adage about a picture 'saying a 1,000 words' is most certainly true. What about if you had dozens of pictures to admire?
The Woodstock Camera Club volunteered again this year at Relay For Life at the CASS track and many memories were created from the stage, to the activity tents, to the volunteers, to Zumba dancing to warm up, to watching the solemn Luminary Ceremony.
Community champion Kay-Lynn Stevens set the stage with her talk about battling cancer since she was 5 years old, and now she's 19 and still smiling as her personal charity group Kay-Lynn's Smile would suggest.
The organizing committee was led by co-chairs Sandy Smith and Deb Moss, along with CCS fundraising administrator Liz Wismer-VanMeer.
Lets' look back to June 10 and Relay 2016:

Master Of Ceremonies was again Dan Henry from 104.7 Heart FM

Maggie Hagedorn leads the Zumba dancing

Co-Chairs (from left): Deb Moss and Sandy Smith, along with Liz Wismer-VanMeer and Dan Henry

Cancer survivors could select a pin noting how many years they were cancer free,

Sally Bradley and her Purina - Agri-Brands team are always among the top fundraisers

Foxxy The Clown entertains the kids of all ages.

A few words and then later 'a thumbs up' from Woodstock Mayor Trevor Birtch

Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman

Kay-Lynn Stevens with the keynote address

The Survivors' Victory Lap always begins the walking around the track.

Luminaries surrounded the CASS track and many were decorated in bright colours.

The Luminary Ceremony was at 10 p.m. The word HOPE was changed to CURE

The always-terrific participation by the Community 4H Team

The Impact Zone was a tent set up to display information

Presenting Sponsor again this year was Western General (Economical Insurance).

Regional office manager Ken Worsley spoke about why their company is involved in Relay

Many feet walk laps around the CASS track

The band Teacher's Pet performed for more than 1 hour.

The Survivor's Victory Lap

#ReadySetWalk #WhyIRelay #AcceptTheBaton

Thursday, 9 June 2016

We're ready as Relay For Life in Woodstock for 2016 has arrived

On Friday June 10, the place to be is College Avenue Secondary School

Set up your camp site and then enjoy an evening of walking ... Accept The Baton

It’s never too late to register for Relay For Life in Woodstock, so you can still sign up and donate at College Avenue Secondary School on the day of Relay on Friday, June 10.

The registration tent will open at 4:30 as many registrants are signed up with a team – and most teams will be setting a camp site inside the CASS track.

The opening ceremony is at 7 p.m. and is quickly followed by the Survivors’ Lap. Master of ceremonies will again be Dan Henry from 104.7 Heart FM.

The keynote address is from Kay-Lynn Stevens this year. She’s a Woodstock 19-year-old student battling brain cancer. A link to her story is below.

Upon arriving at CASS, each participant much check in. I like to use the term ‘check in’ as most often each person has already registered through their team or online. If money still needs to be submitted, the banking committee will be inside CASS to assist you in final tabulations of your donations.

If you are a cancer survivor, there is a tent for registering and receiving a t-shirt. Cancer survivors can register for Relay for no charge, but as we certainly know, they are often the largest collectors of pledges and donations. Any care-giver – by the way -- for a survivor is also admitted at no cost.

The food tent is open from 5:30 – 8 p.m., but closed during opening ceremonies. The menu is supplied by Boston Pizza and Swiss Chalet. The coffee is from Tim Hortons, while additional food tent donations are received from Water Depot and Scott’s No Frills.

Relay For Life – Woodstock organizing committee is extremely pleased with our on-going sponsors and their assistance. Check out the previous post here which notes many many sponsors, who have donated money, product, time, and sometimes all three.

If you have any questions or comments throughout the event, talk to someone in a bright orange t-shirt from the organizing committee.

Relay can be described as a solemn or serious event, but at the same time it’s most certainly all about fun and enthusiasm too, and in fact often family fun as Good Beginnings daycare is the sponsor of the children’s tent with games, crafts and prizes. Among the sponsors of the children’s activities are Home Depot and Blue Cow Delivery. A Shriners clown or two or three will also be present.

The Woodstock Camera Club are consistent volunteers at Relay For Life and we thank them again for their talent and time as they will take team photos and capture many other great event moments.

2015 -- Vuteq

2015 -- Holy Trinity Church

The hair styling school at Fanshawe College will again be available for hair cuts – for those interested in donating hair to the cancer society and cancer patients.

After the opening ceremony, but before the luminary ceremony, entertainment on stage will be from two different local bands. Performing around 7 p.m. is a group called Teacher’s Pet. After 9 p.m., the scheduled performers are returning to Relay as The Grapes are exceptional musicians which you could say are ‘back by popular demand’.

MISSION To Cure Cancer

If you’re looking for more details on the various forms of cancer, there is a ‘mission tent’ open throughout the Relay For Life event with lots of information available from the Canadian Cancer Society.

The Luminary ceremony is at dusk as the luminary tealight candles are lit around the track – luminaries purchased to remember someone who has died from cancer, but also to honour those battling the disease currently. It’s significant to note, many of the cancer survivors walking around the track are still undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments for cancer, including guest speaker Kay-Lynn Stevens and dozens of others.