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Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Last Friday afternoon Carlos was invited to the dealership to collect the keys to a shiny, new, fully-loaded red Ford Focus. The car replaces "Old Betsy," a dull, brown 1975 Chevy Malibu.
But what makes this new car so special is that it's a thank you for being one of 340 people in Canada who raised more than $1,500 in the 10th anniversary CIBC Run for the Cure.
Carlos participated in the run last October when she learned a friend had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
"I ran for Maxine," she says, echoing the Run motto.
Carlos worked hard to raise money, hitting up local bars and businesses.
But what really surprised her was the generosity of the young Filipino community.
"Young boys reached into their pockets and came up with 50 cents. They'd say, 'This is all I have. Is that enough?'"
"Every bit helps," says Carlos, who raised $2,600.
On April 6, which also happens to be her birthday, Carlos received a call from Run for the Cure.
"I thought he meant, 'Are you going to volunteer again, are you going to run?'"
But the man was calling to let Carlos know her name had been drawn from over 300 people eligible for the prize.
"It was quite amazing," says Yellowknife Run director Jane Weishaupt.
"All the Run directors were having a training weekend in Toronto when Wendy's name was drawn."
Weishaupt says the Yellowknife Run for the Cure is a big event, and is known all across Canada for raising more money per participant than anywhere else.
"It's a group of dedicated people. A lot are teams, they do the run with coworkers or friends. Wendy was an individual."
Last year's Run attracted more than 115,000 participants in 32 Run sites from Yellowknife to St. John's, Nfld., to Nanaimo, B.C., and raised over $11 million.
This year's run will take place on Oct. 6.
Carlos will have no choice but to run again. Kingland Ford has offered to start her up with a $500 pledge. "It's a worthy event," says Kingland's sales manager Dan Maisonneuve.
