$75,136.52 was raised during the 12-hour event that was held over the weekend in Bancroft.
“We are absolutely delighted,” says co-chair of the event Flo VanderMeer. “This community is so incredibly generous and caring.”
The money will go to the Canadian Cancer Society to help with the many research projects and programs they have running. VanderMeer says for residents in Bancroft and other rural communities, the Wheels of Hope is an important one. Patients can sign up to get a ride to where their treatment is being done for a fee. “It takes years to development and then go through the experimental phase and trial period,” VanderMeer says of the research the Canadian Cancer Society does. She says she’s heard from people who were helped by research that was started over two decades ago. “It takes an incredible amount of money to do research,” she adds.
VanderMeer says another important tool put forward by the Candian Cancer Society is their answers/support hotline. “That’s manned by volunteers or professional people that have the correct answers and now just answers you might get from your neighbour or an internet search,” she says.
She says throughout the 12-hours over the weekend and leading up to the event she says the response they got from the community amazed them.