Run leader Pat McGregor (left) and Organizer Julie Villamere (right) share the results from Saturday's run. That total raised has since grown to over $11,000. (Photo credit: Pat McGregor)
A Renfrew-area group is getting a special commendation from Brain Cancer Canada ahead of a major announcement this Wednesday.
The charity is expected to reveal the grants being supported through nationwide fundraising in 2023, including an $80,000 grant for doctors and researchers dedicated to improving outcomes for young patients.
That sizable chunk of funding is thanks in part to last year’s Walk and Roll for Pat’s Head and Hearts, according to co-organizer Julie Villamere.
Villamere, who ran the effort alongside friend Pat McGregor, says being one of Brain Cancer Canada’s top fundraisers last year is an amazing result that doesn’t happen without the help of friends and family in the community.
Sadly, it may be the Villamere family’s last fundraising effort for a while as they take a step back to process the loss of their daughter, Andrea, to cancer this past October.
However, Julie says our community always finds a way to pick each other up when in need.
May is Brain Cancer Awareness Month, and, despite the large number of varieties of the disease, brain cancer research only receives 3% of total cancer prevention funding in Canada.
(written by Kasey Egan)