'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.
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:
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.
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.
