Sunny daffodils may not be springing from the ground just yet, but the Canadian Cancer Society’s Daffodil Month forges ahead for its important cause regardless of what Mother Nature has in mind.
You may have spotted volunteers selling bright daffodil pins at locations around town, or come across donation boxes at local stores. Maybe you’ve been visited by a door-to-door canvasser, someone like Murray Ruby.
Ruby, the former owner of Ruby’s Men’s Wear which occupied a store on Main Street for 47 years, has been canvassing the businesses on one side of Main Street for the past 21 years, and successfully so. As local committee member, Bob Addison, notes, “He’s a hard man to say no to.”
Doppler met up with Ruby while he was making rounds this week. He says he gets a lot of satisfaction out of canvassing for the cancer society.
His volunteer efforts allow him to reminisce about some of the downtown events he helped to start, like Midnight Madness and the annual Sidewalk Sale, entering their 41st and 48th years respectively in 2018. And it gives him another chance to meet up with long-time business owners and connect with new ones.
“People I knew had cancer,” says Ruby. “It’s a very good cause.” He notes that the transportation service, which is what local volunteers focus on raising funds for, is particularly helpful given the distance some patients must travel for treatment.
Last year in the Huntsville area, nine volunteer drivers travelled a total of 90,757 kilometres to take 37 clients on 632 trips to appointments as part of the Wheels of Hope transportation service.
The Canadian Cancer Society has been providing the service since the mid-1950s to provide return trips from a patient’s home to cancer-related appointments. Patients pay an annual registration fee of $100, but financial assistance is available through the cancer society’s compassionate program for those who can’t pay the entire fee. (Learn more about Wheels of Hope and how to register for the service or how to become a volunteer driver at cancer.ca or call 1-800-263-6750.)
Within Simcoe-Muskoka, the Canadian Cancer Society also helped 826 people access information and peer support last year. As well, the cancer society provides real-hair wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments, and runs low-cost lodges which offer hotel-like accommodation for outpatients at cancer centres. The closest lodge to Huntsville is Rotary House in Barrie, near the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre.
Peer-to-peer support is available for those who’d like to speak to someone who has faced a similar cancer experience, and trained cancer information specialists can answer questions about treatment, services and resources.
All of these services are made possible with the help of donations. Last year, $50,405.69 was raised locally in support of the Canadian Cancer Society through initiatives like the daffodil pin sales, canvassing, local barbecues and book sales, wrapping Christmas presents in exchange for donations, and general donations.
The local committee—which has more than 200 years of volunteering for the cancer society among them—is always seeking new volunteers, in particular door-to-door canvassing usually within the volunteer’s own neighbourhood. “I’ve found that if it’s on your own street, even if you don’t know the people it’s a good way to meet them—it breaks the ice,” says committee member Chris Mathews. If you’re interested in helping out, contact Lynne Newell at 705-789-7393.
Members of the local Canadian Cancer Society committee have volunteered for more than 200 years combined. (From left) Joan Crann, Joan Diamond, Linda Smith (president), Bob Addison, Marnie Brethour, Chris Mathews, and Kathy Henderson. Missing: Lynne Newell.
For more information on the Canadian Cancer Society and its services, and how you can donate (you can specify where you’d like your donation to be directed), visit cancer.ca or call 1-888-939-3333.
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