Prince George, B.C.-  The  Rotary Club of Prince George is prepping  to host it’s 5th annual Big Blue Ball fundraising event,  and  is  seeing  positive results of  past efforts to  raise awareness of Prostate Cancer  and  to have men  seek  prostate exams.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer among Canadian men .  According to  Prostate Cancer Canada,  one in eight men will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime.  Early detection  can make a world of  difference.

That is why the  Rotary Club of Prince George is not only  raising funds,  but  working  hard to raise awareness about  prostate cancer through  programs such as  Men’s Health Days which  offer a clinic setting for men to  be screened .

The clinics  have been a positive move to get  men to  have themselves checked says the Rotary Club of Prince George’s Ross Birchall “We are already seeing more people catching illnesses such as prostate cancer early on and that  is a huge  key to surviving diseases like that.”  Birchall says  its important for  men to see  a Doctor  as soon as they sense something isn’t right “Getting the conversation going in communities like Prince George in Northern B.C. where we have a   historically low rate of  subscription, so to speak, when men go to see their Doctor, we wait until the last second until something feels really wrong and it’s often too late unfortunately.”

The  Club also  uses funds raised from the  Big Blue Ball to  operate its Prince George Prostate Cancer Support  group.

But the clinics and support   can’t happen  without  funding, and that’s where the  Big Blue Ball comes in.   Birchall says  in the past,  each  event has raised  between $50 and $60 thousand dollars .

This year,  the  event is set for November 12th  at the Coast Inn of the North,  and Birchall says it won’t be the ‘same old, same old’  “We’re switching it up.  There’s a huge craft beer focus, obviously with a new craft brewery coming in,  and the success of Ale Fest has  shown us that  this is what the  community wants,  we want more networking,   more excitement at the  events so it’s not your average sit down dinner.”  So this time round,  it will be a roaming dinner   concept.  The Coast Inn of the North is partnering with the Culinary Arts  program at the College of New Caledonia  and  there will  be  six food stations set up with craft beer and wine pairings.

There will be music ( Pink Champagne will provide the tunes) and of course  there will be  a   silent as well as live auction.

Tickets for the Big Blue Ball are $85 each and  can be purchased at the Coast Inn of the North,  or online by clicking here.
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