For 45 years, it has been a fall tradition.
And tomorrow (Sept 14), St. Thomas will join more than 650 communities across Canada in hosting a Terry Fox Run, a fundraiser in support of cancer research.
This year’s event will take place in 1Password Park, notes one of the organizers, Bre Betts.
A St. Thomas native, Betts and her husband have moved back to the city in the past month, and participating in the annual run has been an important family tradition.
And she stresses, “The thing with Terry Fox, like any charitable work, it’s very much reliant on volunteers, so there’s been a very dedicated group here of a few people who have used their might, and who have really chugged it together each year to get something going, so I’m really grateful for that.”

She explains the move to 1Password Park.
“The thing with Terry Fox, like any charitable work, it is very much reliant on volunteers, so there’s been a very dedicated group here of a few people who have used their might and have really chugged it together each year to get something going, so I’m really grateful for that.
“It was at Pinafore Park, I believe, last year, and so we’ve moved it this year, and our plan from here is, because a lot of people didn’t know it was still happening in the community, and so our plan from here is to scale it up in the coming years and make sure people know about it.”
Betts adds, ” I can’t think of anyone who hasn’t been affected in some way by cancer, so it does matter to most people.”
Organizers have been working with city staff to take full advantage of the new venue.
“We’re working with the city right now to just confirm our routes. The run offers a two, five and a 10-kilometre option, so we’ll have those sorts of turning points mapped out.

“And I think the other really important thing is it is very much about raising the money, but it is really also about bringing awareness, getting people talking, you know, even if it is just so much as it starts a conversation about cancer signs and symptoms . . .”

“I believe the city is mapping the routes for me right now, and I think their plan is to keep it within the confines of the park for this year on the trail. We may expand that in the coming years to go on some of the other trails, but the real plus of keeping it in the park is accessibility.
“We’ve got parking, we have a paved trail, so anyone could run, walk, you could push a wheelchair easily on there, ride your bike, there are lots of options, so that’s what it’ll look like.
“We’ll have registration on site starting about 9:30 a.m. that day. I anticipate, hopefully, we’ll have a good turnout of people. Many people register online, so I don’t anticipate a huge crowd for registration if people are more comfortable doing that in person.”
Betts notes organizers have set a very modest fundraising goal of $5,000 for the launch year at the new venue, adding, “We are more than a quarter of the way there.
“And I think the other really important thing is it is very much about raising the money, but it is really also about bringing awareness, getting people talking, you know, even if it is just so much as it starts a conversation about cancer signs and symptoms that causes someone to book an appointment and take care of something or learn about what’s going on in their body. So there is lots of value far beyond those dollars raised as well.”
Betts is a veteran of Terry Fox fundraising events.
“I’ve been everywhere from London to Niagara-on-the-Lake to downtown Toronto and the east end of Toronto and other places. And they’re so different, which is really neat.
“You know, some have concerts and sort of like barbecues happening, but all of them, whether big or small, are so community-focused, and it results in people just kind of hanging out for a long time before and after the run.
“And an opportunity for lots of those working in the community in similar spaces to be together. So, hopefully we will build it into that.”
As a bonus, Betts points out, “We will have shirts available on site for folks to buy. It’s kind of an exciting year as well. It’s their 45th anniversary.”
As a reminder, she explains, ”Folks can go to http://terryfox.org, and search for the St. Thomas Run. You can sign up for yourself as an individual. You can start a team, as a lot of folks have done on there, with families and friends.
“Or if you can’t take part, you can also just find a way to either donate funds or your time or maybe mark it in your calendar for next year.”

NEW COMMUNITY FUND IS ‘STRIKING A CHORD WITH PEOPLE’

For the past year, she has turned a family tragedy into positive action.
And one year after the death of Ryan Davies on Sept. 2 of last year, when a canoe he was in with two friends tipped over on Lake Margaret, his mother Linda King (seen in the photo, second from right, with Briar McCaw and Nate MacIntyre) celebrated the creation of a new fund at the Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation.
The Elgin Drowning Prevention Fund was created to support the efforts of the Elgin Drowning Prevention Coalition, under the leadership of Briar McCaw.
The aim is to ensure other families can avoid similar tragedies.
The announcement of the community fund launch came just two weeks after the unveiling of the Central Elgin Lifejacket Lending Program at Main Beach in Port Stanley.
And this spring, the Ryan Davies Project was unveiled in St. Thomas, which encourages the City of St. Thomas to develop a Personal Flotation Device bylaw and install ring buoys around Lake Margaret.
We spoke with King this past Monday (Sept. 8) about the Elgin Drowning Prevention Fund.

After sending out feelers to the foundation, King advised, “The new executive director, Tracy Robinson, reached out to me about a month ago. We had a discussion, and it just kind of exploded from there. We met for lunch, talked about different options, and thought the best place for this money to go would be for drowning prevention and to support the community and the work that’s already been done.”

“And unfortunately, you know, I wish there were things that I told Ryan at a younger age, you know, as well.”

She continued, “And that opens the door to perhaps other events or opportunities to donate to the fund. But for those who don’t maybe realize how the fund works, that can be ongoing donations, like a monthly payment, or it could be something you put in your will, or it could be something that’s a legacy fund. So there are many opportunities.”
Where would King and the Elgin Drowning Prevention Coalition like the money from the fund to be directed?
“So we’ll work together and we’ll look where the need is most needed, right? Maybe that is another beach or a couple of beaches. Lots of donations too to keep the life jackets maintained at Main Beach in Port Stanley. And some of the funds, too, will hopefully go to what they’re doing at Lake Margaret as well.”
She continued, “It’s about educating ourselves around drowning prevention and learning things that you may not know already. Like talking to your children about water safety at a younger age? We take it for granted that people know these things, but there’s a lot we don’t know. And unfortunately, you know, I wish there were things that I told Ryan at a younger age, you know, as well.”
We met with Tracy Robinson,  the new executive director of the Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation at her office in the CASO station about the relationship with King and the Elgin Drowning Prevention Coalition.
“I know that the Elgin Drowning Prevention Coalition has been looking into non-profit status and possibly charitable status, but that takes a long time. And so she approached us, and we were very happy, you know, knowing this story and knowing about Ryan Davies that we wanted to help. And this is what we do.
“So being able to set up a fund where we can receive donations from the community and direct them to strategies that are happening here in Elgin county, that hit a chord with us. And Linda has just been so inspiring, the work that she is doing with the coalition and Briar (McCaw) and Nate (MacIntyre) has been really good and making such an impact that we thought this was the best thing we could do to follow up on that.”

“So the goal of this fund is to set something up that can continue to support this forever. And hopefully reduce the number of tragedies that have been happening.”

Robinson continued, “Linda is named as our donor advisor on this fund. So we would work with her to make sure that we are in compliance with our charitable acts so that we can direct the money to causes that support strategies in Elgin.
“So the goal of this fund is to set something up that can continue to support this forever. And hopefully reduce the number of tragedies that have been happening.”
If you would like to contribute in some way to the Elgin Drowning Prevention Fund, Robinson advises, “You can go to our website https://escf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1813. We have started receiving donations already. So it’s clearly striking a chord with people and something that feels good to support and something that supports everyone who enjoys the water.”

The existing five-year contract is set to expire at the end of this year. Still, it includes provisions for a potential three-year extension, followed by an additional two-year extension, both contingent upon mutual agreement between the city and Voyago.

” . . . or do we want to tender on something more of a proposal and find a service partner that’s looking to operate transit as a service more so than transit as an operation?”