Is June kids with Cancer month?

Well, according to all the guru cancer societies, September is actually the “official” Kids with Cancer awareness month.  But, as a patient myself, when you have Cancer – every month is awareness month.  This June, the reason I am calling this “Kids with Cancer” month is that I have 3 friends in various places across Canada doing charity fundraisers for kids with Cancer.  That is cool.

Last year about this time, I told you (in a video in a blog post) about the Kids with Cancer Society here in Edmonton.   My post last year pointed out that I am a bit of a whiny little bitch compared to these kids.  I have dealt with Cancer for 2 of my 44 years (so 5% of my life?); these kids have dealt with it for periods greater than 50% of their lives… to them, dealing with Cancer may be the only life they know – yet they still just enjoy being kids.
The Kids with Cancer society here has a motorcycle ride into the Rocky Mountains as a fundraiser.. raising hundreds of thousands of dollars along the way.  I have met the Honourary Ride Captain for the event, and he raised over $20k last year.  If you are so inclined, a donation to Terry Evans (from K97)  earns you a tax receipt, and the knowledge that you are helping kids in Alberta, be kids – even when fighting Cancer.
The other guys in my network are also doing a fundraising event of a 2 wheeled variety, just with less horsepower.. a lot less.  My buddies Norm in Halifax, and Mike in Cold Lake, are both riding bicycles during the month of June for the Sick Kids Foundation.  I encourage anyone that wishes to get themselves a tax receipt to support any or all of these guys.  My donations will be made shortly, as I did promise a couple of them that when a certain threshold is reached… I will donate (subtle motivation).

General updates ‘n’ stuff.
Juanita, the lady that crashed during the Wheels for our Wounded (WfoW) ride, is now showing signs of improvement and everyone is breathing a sigh of relief.  She still has a long road ahead, and by no means are people thinking that this is all done with.  One Broken Biker(OBB), which is a Calgary based society (much like Bikers Down in NS) that provides support for fallen riders, has reached out to the family, and is providing support.  I understand that an Edmonton based OBB event is now being planned.  I look forward to putting details up here for everyone, as well as attending.

 

The first Annual Emily’s ride for Teen mental Health was a complete success.  70 registered attendees, and nearly $20k raised… let us not forget the size of the splash that was made when it came to awareness of the issue.  The media coverage and interviews were outstanding, and the strength showed by Rick and Stephanie to be so open during the coverage speaks volumes about them and the future of what will become an annual event.   It was also good to have Liane from Alberta Motorcycle Safety Society there to give the safety chat to all registered riders.

 

Thanks everyone for following along on this journey, please check out the 20k goal page for more riding stuff, pictures / videos for this year and some of the mis-adventures that I intend to try along the way.. off to record a video or two now.  My video skillz are getting ……. better??? But you know it is bad when I am making bloopers trying to record the chatty transitions of my blooper reel video.

Please share this stuff within your networks so that I can reach a bigger audiences.  Thanks.