Staff
With the Terry Fox “Marathon of Hope” less than two weeks, the Fort Frances Volunteer Bureau still is looking for more sponsors and volunteers to help put on the fundraiser run/walk here on Sunday, Sept. 13.
“We could still use more volunteers, and we could use more donations,” stressed volunteer Vanessa Hebert.
“We have sent out donation letters, but we haven’t heard back from anybody yet,” she noted.
Hebert said volunteers can help out with anything from helping to set up the route on the day of the run to taking registrations and manning water stations.
Sponsors, meanwhile, could help out with water and snacks, or make monetary donations to help cover the costs of staging the event.
“We like to provide water and little energy snacks, cookies and stuff like that,” Hebert noted.
She also said no one has agreed to do pre-run warm-up exercises yet. Anyone interested in doing that should call her as soon as possible.
To volunteer for the annual event, or to sponsor it, call and leave a message at 274-9555 or via e-mail at ffvb_29@hotmail.com
From a planning point of view, Hebert said it also would help if participants would contact the volunteer bureau and let organizers know now if they’ll be there on Sept. 13.
“It would be nice if people would let us know if they’re planning on running, so we have an idea how many people are going to be participating,” she remarked.
“That would be the biggest thing right now, so we had an idea of the numbers.”
As in past years, participants are encouraged to pick up pledge forms and raise funds prior to the Sept. 13 event.
Pledge forms are available at the volunteer bureau (located in the old CN station), Canadian Tire, Pharmasave, Shopper’s Drug Mart, The Place, and Wal-Mart.
Registration will start at noon, with the run getting underway at 2 p.m.
The route will go to Pither’s Point and back via Central Avenue and Second Street East.
Fox’s original “Marathon of Hope” took place in 1980, with the objective of raising awareness of the critical need to find a cure for cancer.
He ran an average of 43 km a day for 143 days, but eventually was forced to end his cross-Canada journey near Thunder Bay due to the return of his cancer.
He succumbed to the disease in June, 1981.
Since then, the annual Terry Fox Run been held across Canada and around the world.
