With the 30th anniversary of the Terry Fox Run in 2010, fundraising events in Taber for the annual event are coming up fast and furious.
Aside from the men’s body waxing event on Cornfest, the chairperson of the local Terry Fox Run committee, Yvonne Dreaddy, said Taberites will be seeing a lot of different fundraisers this month. The next one will be the annual bake sale at Scotia Bank, which is set for Friday at 8:30 a.m. On Sept. 11, there will be a 30-kilometre walk being held to commemorate the 30th year of the Terry Fox Run.
“We’ll start outside Coaldale and be walking back to Taber,” said Dreaddy, who will be joined by her sister, Remona Romunik, along with locals Jennifer Meggison, Jaylee Baceda, Lindsey Baceda, Trina Gedny and Staci Mueller. “This is something I wanted to do to celebrate the 30th anniversary by going 30 kilometres. I just asked a couple people if they would like to participate, and then I got calls from a few others as well.”
The Sept. 11 walk should certainly test the mettle of Dreaddy and her fellow participants.
“It should take us approximately six hours to do,” she said. “We will be stopping every 10 kilometres to recharge.”
All the money raised from the walk will be rolled over to Taber’s annual Terry Fox Run. Dreaddy added there is still time for more people to participate, or to pledge the existing walkers. Anyone interested can call her at 403-382-5759. The week after the walk, Horizon School Division staff members will put on a run as well, which will be held Sept. 17. Dreaddy said the division’s event included 60 participants in 2009, and brought in over $2,500.
Funds coming in from the men’s body waxing, 30-kilometre walk, the bake sale and the school division’s run will be added to two events which have already brought in well over $8,000 for the cause. Back in February, the Terry Fox dance raised over $6,000, and the recent Taber Viper Swim Club swimathon saw about $2,500 more being donated.
Dreaddy said she has been happy with the community support for the Terry Fox events thus far, and added she was particularly impressed with young Alex Senneker, the Viper assistant coach, who agreed to shave his head for the club’s fundraiser.
One last fundraiser, in the form of Terry Fox cards, are also being sold at Scotia Bank and Verl’s Auto Pro in Barnwell. Anyone who buys the cards can write their name on them, or the name of a loved one to honour them, and have the cards displayed in the above-mentioned businesses.
“They are asking for a dollar or two, or a donation of your choice,” said Dreaddy.
All these events lead up to the big day, the 30th annual Terry Fox Run on Sept. 18. Dreaddy added registrations for the run will be taken up to the day of the event, and pledge sheets can be picked up now by calling her. All proceeds raised in Taber will go the Terry Fox Foundation for cancer research. Dreaddy added 87 cents of every dollar goes to research initiatives, while 10 cents goes to fundraiser and three cents goes for administrative expenses for the foundation.