Greetings from Alberta! It is my honour and privilege to serve as Provincial Director for The Terry Fox Foundation for Alberta, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories. Support for Terry Fox runs deeply and profoundly across our region. One of the most beautiful things about Terry Fox Foundation events is that they are so truly reflective of Canada – they occur in the largest of cities and the smallest of towns. Whether it is a community Terry Fox Run, a National School Run Day event, a head shave or a workplace event, you would be hard pressed to name a town in Alberta that doesn’t hold at least one of these events to raise funds for cancer research in Terry’s name. And in Taber, Alberta, you will find a town that embraces them all.
Taber has a population of 7,500 people and is located in southern Alberta, about a three hour drive southeast of Calgary. The heart of this rural town truly seems to beat for Terry Fox. For the past few years, volunteers have not only hosted the annual Terry Fox Run, but also the Terry Fox Van Tour of Hope, the Terry Fox Great Canadian Head Shave, school Terry Fox Runs, and a fundraiser at their local swim club. This past year, volunteers created a Terry Fox quilt, made from annual Terry Fox Run t-shirts dating back to the early years of the Foundation. The quilt project alone raised $10,000 for cancer research and is on permanent display in the local library. It was truly a labour of love, as many of the t-shirts were difficult to locate and the project took considerable time, effort and perseverance. In 2008-2009, the folks of wonderful little Taber raised more than $50,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation, ranking them fourth behind the large cities of Calgary, Edmonton and Yellowknife!
On Feb. 12 of this year, volunteers in Taber held a Terry Fox Valentine’s Day Dance at the Legion featuring popular southern Alberta band, the Chevelles. (I saw this group last year when they played at the Brier in Calgary and they are incredible!) Everything for the event was donated, from the decorating to the entertainment, to food and door prizes, even cab rides home! Attendees were asked to make a donation to cancer research to attend the event, which was filled to capacity (150 people). The event cost nothing and raised $6000. Well done, Yvonne Dreaddy and helpers! The event was the talk of the town and already people are asking if it is going to happen again next year. Woo hoo! We love it when people think outside the box and hold fundraising events in the winter and spring, seasons that are not traditionally associated with Terry Fox events. Congratulations and thanks to everyone involved.
In August 2008, Terry’s father, Rolly Fox, and niece Jessica Alder saw first-hand how much support there is for Terry in this town. Rolly drove the original Terry Fox van for the southern Alberta portion of the Tour of Hope. Taber’s event included a dunk tank and folks were surprised and delighted to see 73-year old Rolly get up there for a turn. Terry isn’t the only Fox who leads by example!