Relay On Way To Record-Breaker
Participants from the Relay for Life's final lap gather to hear the fundraising tally 250News photo
Prince George, BC – One way or another, the 22nd Annual Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life will be a fundraising record-breaker for local organizers…
Last year, Prince George was the top relay in the BC and Yukon division, placing second in the country with just under $550-thousand dollars raised. To the cheers of those who finished off this morning's 24-hour event, Relay Volunteer Committee Co-Chair, Davy Greenlees, announced the current tally of $520-thousand dollars.
The local relay had a goal at the outset of raising $525-thousand dollars, and raised that to $600-thousand at the start of the event yesterday – promising the Cancer Society's Team Lead for Community Giving, Helen Owen, would shave her hair if the mark was reached.
"We are well on our way to breaking yet another record here in Prince George," said Greenlees. "Just because we're saying $520 right now, does not mean we're done. There's still money coming in – you can still fundraise – we can still make her bald. You guys into that? Bring it on."
Northland Dodge's Brent Marshall then guaranteed the clippers will come out by pledging to top up the August tally to the $600-thousand dollar mark. (Marshall shown in photo at right with Helen Owen)
"My goal is to make Prince George known as the most charitable community in Canada and, I think this is our year, Helen," he said to laughter from the crowd. "I'd appreciate any help between now and August and then I pledge to top that up, so that we can make sure Helen gets to take this off and set a new goal."
Marshall made the pledge just prior to the draw for the winner of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee that was donated as an incentive to relay participants – for every $500 raised, they had their names entered. There were 461 entries. Rob Muxlow of Team Crazy Daisies was the winner. He had just left Masich Place stadium, after walking between 6am and 8am this morning. His cousin, Susan Slater, was eventually able to contact him by cell to deliver the news.
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There were 16 participants who committed to being at the track all 24-hours and they were honoured at this morning's closing ceremonies.
The group had been standing at the front of the stage and there was a bit of a scary moment, as one participant collapsed. The young woman was quickly attended to and given some water. Members of the crowd then jumped in to bring in chairs for the weary walkers and runners.
From the group of 24-hour relayers, Nick Taylor won the draw for a $250 Visa gift card from Huber Farm Equipment. This is the second year the young man has participated around the clock. Taylor lost his mom, Allyson, to leukemia in December of 2012.
There were 147 teams and 1455 participants walking and running the track at Masich Place Stadium this weekend. U2's 'It's a Beautiful Day' played for the final lap…and it was…
Comments
Good job to all those involved.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/07/06/cancer-society-spends-mor_n_891203.html
Thanks for the referenced article GettingItRight, I have copied the most shocking and revealing part of that article, and have also made the link clickable for others to more easily reference.
âCBC’s Marketplace analyzed the Canadian Cancer Societyâs financial reports dating back a dozen years. It discovered that each year, as the society raised more dollars, the proportion of money it spent on research dropped dramatically â from 40.3 per cent in 2000 to under 22 per cent in 2011.â
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/07/06/cancer-society-spends-mor_n_891203.html
Oh, and by the way, the CEO of the Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Region makes between $200,000 and $250,000 per year⦠not a bad salary paid by charitable money ;-)
Just for the sake of balance.
http://www.charityinfo.ca/articles/marketplace-misses-the-mark
“But Marketplace, and the major newspapers who parroted the report, didn’t stop there. “Cancer society spends more on fundraising than on research” proclaimed the headlines. True, but incomplete. The Canadian Cancer Society also spends money on
advocacy (recently challenging our government’s refusal to join the rest of the world in declaring asbestos a dangerous substance),
patient and family support services (everything from support groups to driving patients to appointments),
education, and
prevention.
And like research, the absolute amount spent on those efforts has grown.”
“For a much better-informed perspective on the controversial issues of charity impact and efficiency, you might want to check out “The Charity 100” in the summer issue of MoneySense magazine.
By the MoneySense measures, the Canadian Cancer Society looks pretty good. Though the national society isn’t listed among the top health charities, its percentage of spending on programs (57%) almost matches the 57.2% average achieved by those on the 2011 list.”
Way to go peeps.
If the total is 599k then big time Brent only has to throw in a measly 1k?
And it is a mobile phone not a “cell”
You can spin it anyway you want, the absolute truth, supported by the facts are: only 22 cents, of every dollar donated to the Canadian Cancer Society, goes towards actually âfinding a cureâ. Perhaps less money could be spent on their CEOâs?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/six-figure-salaries-the-norm-at-top-charities/article1533823/
Thank you Being Human you are so correct , both my son and I have had Cancer and we got no help from the cancer Society . I made my last relay 3 years ago as I raised a great amount of money but now I give the money to the University of Alberta where they do have a cure .And every dollar is spent where it should be not on CEO’s
Exactly, FedUp. But we’re lucky. In Canada, there’s no shortage of charitable organizations willing to accept your donation.
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