'I've never missed a Relay'
Cancer survivors disappointed by cancellation of Relay For Life
Robin Grant
Northern News Services
Friday, August 4, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Whether the annual cancer fundraisers Relay For Life and Daffodil Month will continue to take place in Yellowknife remains uncertain after both events were cancelled this year.
This was especially bad news for cancer survivor and longtime Relay For Life participant Judy Sharp. Both Canadian Cancer Society fundraisers usually take place in June.
"It's a disappointment for everyone," she said. "It's that idea that you don't know where to go from here ... It was like we didn't matter anymore."
Relay For Life has been held annually in Yellowknife since 2003. The 12-hour relay usually generates well over $100,000. In 2014, the fundraiser brought in $120,000. In 2013, it raised a total of $190,000, according to Yellowknifer reporting.
The money goes toward Canadian Cancer Society initiatives, such as funding cancer research and personalized services for those suffering from cancer and prevention, according to the society's website.
Every year, Sharp said she would sport her trademark yellow T-shirt penned with the names of those who lost their lives to cancer and those who survived cancer. But cancelling the event didn't come as a complete surprise, Sharp said, after the society closed its Yellowknife office last August.
In a news release, the organization said the closure was due to few people "engaging with the society in its physical setting."
"As online and electronic interactions continue to grow, we realize we can better serve all Canadians living with cancer - including people in Yellowknife - without needing to rely on bricks and mortar," stated the release.
The organization said it would continue its commitment to the community, including organizing the popular annual campaigns Relay for Life and Daffodil Month.
After the office closure, Sharp said the society continued to employ a committee member in Yellowknife but when that person quit in the winter, he wasn't replaced. This left no full-time member committed to organizing fundraisers.
"We had a lot of community support but without someone to spearhead the event, it just fizzled out," she said.
Canadian Cancer Society Alberta branch executive director Chelsea Draeger has a different version of the story. She said the Alberta/NWT branch was not able to attract enough attention from the community to organize Relay for Life.
"We just didn't have the support to move them forward this year," she said.
Sharp disagrees. She felt it wasn't community support that was lacking but a full-time member present in the city to organize it.
"There was no (Canadian Cancer Society) committee," she said. "I don't see how it can go a long distance without a committee in Yellowknife. You have somebody here to lead it."
Despite its cancellation, Rally the Troops, an event designed to motivate the teams for the relay and raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society, was still held on June 7.
Shiri MacPherson, who has been walking in the fundraiser since 2005, organized the event. Despite it being a success, MacPherson said it didn't make up for Relay For Life.
"I was very, very upset. I've never missed Relay," she said. "It's a really big part of people's cancer journey."
Former NWT commissioner Tony Whitford said since his wife Elaine Whitford passed away from cancer in 2003 - and since his own cancer diagnosis - he has participated in the Relay for Life.
"I was sadly disappointed it was cancelled but I can understand why," he said.
Organizing fundraisers like Relay require extra time that most people don't have, he said, adding he is optimistic the community will pull together to create an event that suits Yellowknife going forward.
Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne agrees with Whitford about the community's capacity to organize an event to make up for the fundraiser but expressed concern there wasn't a Canadian Cancer Society office in Yellowknife any longer.
"As the capital city of the NWT, it's troubling to me that the Canadian Cancer Society can't find a way to staff an office here," he said. "There's always been a lot of enthusiasm for Relay For Life."
