With time running short before the Sept. 18 run date, the Fort Frances Terry Fox Run is still in need of a co-ordinator.
Kim Smith is the Ontario Events Co-Ordinator for The Terry Fox Foundation. She says Fort Frances has been a long-time supporter of the run but former co-ordinators are unable to organize it this year.
“I believe back in 2019 the Volunteer Bureau was organizing in Fort Frances but we haven’t heard from them this year,” Smith said. “Then, of course, we had two years of pandemic. One thing the pandemic did was it brought organizations like The Terry Fox Foundation online so people could still fundraise. But they had to go out the day of the Terry Fox Run and do their walk or jog or ride on their own.”
While the fundraising can be done online there is a certain togetherness and unity that the foundation likes to see around the Terry Fox Run.
“We do want the Terry Fox communities to gather again and have in-person runs,” Smith said. “So we’d love an organizer to come forward because we have been leaderless for a couple of years in your community.”
According to Smith, Fort Frances has raised almost a quarter of a million dollars since 1993.
“It’s an important community to Terry Fox, it would be a shame to let that continuity stop,” Smith said.
The event requires someone to lead the events around the run.
“What we need is someone who is willing to lead the events, gather volunteers together, delegate responsibilities, and make sure the route is safe, and get permission from the municipality to have a safe route,” Smith said. “Maybe organize a few refreshments that are donated and do some promotion. We send up posters to organizers and volunteers that they can put up around the community.”
Smith went on to say that once the basics like promotion, registration and having a safe route are in place, everything else on top is just extra and can potentially be added for the next year once the basics are taken care of.
“Things like bands and entertainment can be bonus things the next year,” Smith said. “It’s really just people coming together for Terry Fox and having fun on the day of the event.”
Anyone interested in volunteering to help organize a Terry Fox Run in Fort Frances can contact Kim Smith at kim.smith@terryfox.org or by phone at (416) 924 8252 ext 227.
