It’s a sure sign of spring: the Canadian Cancer Society’s annual daffodil campaign arises as reliably as the beautiful yellow flowers that share its name.
But this year, for the first time ever, there will be no face-to-face fundraising activities in the community to ensure the safety of volunteers and community members during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This necessary public health decision unfortunately means the CCS in Huntsville will lose revenue from the 2020 daffodil and door-to-door canvassing in April,” said Brenda MacGregor, senior manager, community, for the Canadian Cancer Society in Simcoe-Muskoka, Holland River and Bluewater.
“Yet, despite this decrease in revenue, we are seeing a rapidly growing need from cancer patients and their caregivers for our system of virtual supports such as our 1-800 toll free cancer helpline and live chat, our CancerConnection.ca online peer support, our peer match phone-based peer support, and our online resources at cancer.ca including our community service locator,” she added. “We need to make sure our support services can continue to serve the people of Huntsville who need, or will need, these services to help them through a cancer diagnosis.”
According to the CCS, there are currently more than one million people in the country living with and beyond cancer and could have compromised immune systems that put them at a greater risk of more serious outcomes if they contract COVID-19.
So instead of their usual spring fundraising activities, the CCS is partnering with Choir! Choir! Choir! for a virtual sing-a-thon in support of the Daffodil Campaign this Saturday.
The sing-a-thon will take place live on Facebook and YouTube on Saturday, April 11 at 3 p.m. ET. “The event connects people from around the world to have fun, spread hope, and unite through song,” according to a CCS media release. You can RSVP to the event here through Facebook.
Here are further details from the Canadian Cancer Society:
Choir! Choir! Choir! creative directors Nobu Adilman and Daveed Goldman provide digital lyric sheets and guide participants through a set list of inspiring selections. From their own homes, families, self-isolators, and singers of all stripes will sing along with the duo as part of this special virtual singing event. Throughout the event, donations will be collected for CCS via Facebook and YouTube. Donations will also be collected leading up to and after the event, all of which will help Canadians impacted by cancer.
Learn more about the Canadian Cancer Society or make a donation here.
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