Around 400 community and business leaders gathered at the Ottawa Events and Conference Centre on Coventry Road Thursday morning for the annual Cancer Champions Breakfast, raising $215,000.
Funds raised at the event help fund clinical trials and the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation’s cancer coaching program, which helps patients connect with resources and come to terms with their diagnosis.
Lisa Yull was matched with a cancer coach during her fight with colorectal cancer.
“It was a really big, long journey in the hospital and trying to recover,” she said. “I’m also a single mom with two kids – teenage girls, so it took a long time for me to get back to where I thought I was normal and then I just crashed. I’m a Type A personality, so it was, okay back to normal and everything’s good and then I crashed and burned. Thank goodness for cancer coaching because I got hooked up with somebody that really assisted me in finding – it challenged me to identify those goals and take some ‘me’ time. Be selfish and take care of myself so I can be here to take care of other people and help other people.”
The Foundation hopes to grow the cancer coaching program this year in order to serve more people in Ottawa. Some 7,000 people in our community are diagnosed with the disease every year.
Bell Media, the parent company of CFRA, was presented with a special 20 years award at the event in for leadership and dedication to improving cancer care in Ottawa.
http://www.cfra.com/news/2016/05/19/community-and-business-leaders-raise-215k-for-ottawa-regional-cancer-foundation
Posted on 5/19/2016 10:04:00 AM by Alison Sandor