A Sarnia firefighter is one of 136 local residents who are taking part in this month's Great Cycle Challenge Canada in support of SickKids hospital.
This is Roel Bus' 8th time participating, and over the years he's been able to raise more than $14,400 while riding over 6,000 kilometres in the process.
Bus said his goal this year is to bring in at least $2,500 to fight kids' cancer, helped along by the generous support of the community.
"Cancer is the largest killer of kids in Canada," said Bus. "There are 27 children diagnosed with cancer every week, and three of them die every week which is a very sad stat."
Bus said the support for the cause has been fantastic.
"I usually send out emails to people that I work with, and other people I know," he said. "You hate to bug people, but you know it's a good cause. I'm putting out stuff on Facebook all the time, and I'm very grateful to everybody that donates. I have a few people who donate every year, so there's definitely some solid support there. It's great to know there's quite a few people riding in the Sarnia Chapter."
As of late Tuesday, the Sarnia Chapter had already brought in over $17,000 this year alone.
Bus said Wednesday marks "Kick Cancer’s Butt Day".
Every donation made on Wednesday will be matched by the Garron family, up to $1,300,000.
In 2010, the Garron Family donated an unprecedented $30 million to SickKids to revolutionize the care and treatment of children’s cancer in Canada and around the world.
The donation transformed the Comprehensive Cancer Centre into the Garron Family Cancer Centre (GFCC), the largest paediatric oncology centre in Canada, and created five Endowed Chairs in Childhood Cancer Research.
Myron and Berna Garron’s son Michael was treated for cancer at SickKids for many years. In 1975, Michael passed away at age 13 from synovial sarcoma, a rare type of soft tissue cancer.
The Great Cycle Challenge Canada runs right up until the end of August.
More details, and a link to donate, can be found at www.greatcyclechallenge.ca.
