BONNYVILLE – During a rainy Sunday afternoon, the sun popped out just in time for the start of the Bonnyville Cancer Clinic's second annual 5 km fun run/walk on June 4.
Dozens of families, individuals, groups of friends and a few dogs, came out to run, walk and cycle along Lakeshore Drive in Bonnyville starting at the splash park.
Event organizers hoped to raise $15,000, but the Bonnyville and Lakeland community came out in full force, raising over $27,000 through pledges, donations and registration fees. The funds from the fun run will go toward supporting patients at the Bonnyville Cancer Clinic.
Oncology nurses from the Bonnyville Cancer Clinic not only came up with the idea for the event but they also volunteer their free time to host it with the help of other community supporters from groups such as the Bonnyville Health Centre Auxiliary.
Kelly Haygarth, a Registered Nurse, chemo nurse and a Cancer Patient Navigator with the Bonnyville Community Cancer Clinic, told Lakeland This Week that while working in the cancer clinic, staff witness firsthand the struggles that patients face.
Often times, patients face financial hardships after an unexpected diagnosis redirects them from days spent at work to a treatment facility instead.
The money raised through Sunday's event will go toward things like grocery and fuel gift cards for cancer patients who may or may not qualify for financial assistance programs due to previous years’ tax assessments.
“It doesn't matter what you earned the year before, if you are diagnosed with cancer and you have to travel to the city or another community for treatment, things like buying groceries or filling your tank with gas can quickly become a stretch,” said Haygarth. “If we, as staff at the cancer clinic, can do anything to relieve some of that burden – that's what we are going to try and do.”
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