Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - CIBC Run for the Cure - October 4th 2009

First of all, let me start by saying that this event is HUGE. Obviously, Breast cancer is a very serious problem, affecting 1 in 8 women (I've also heard 1 in 9 .. maybe statistics are declining ? Yay!) and awareness has been promoted for years now.

Therefore, this event is a big deal .. it's "Canada's largest single day, volunteer-led fundraising event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research, and education and awareness programs". The run / walk took place in no less than 56 communities accross Canada, simultaneously on October 4th 2009. That's a lot of people !! It felt amazing to be a part of it and it was incredibly empowering to see everyone (women, men, children.. even dogs) joining forces.

The Montreal edition of the 2009 Run for the Cure took place in Parc Maisonneuve which provided plenty of space for the runners and walkers to do their 5k or 1k.. and all the installations (tents, kiosks and main stage). This was the first year at this new location because the race used to be held in the streets downtown Montreal .. but undoubtedly the event has gotten too big (which is a good thing) and required more space !

To register for this event, I used the Bénévolatàlapage.CA website. This website provides volunteers with quick and easy access to many events or charities requiring their services.. in a the region of your choice (Canada, USA, Bermuda).

Using this website allowed me to see all the different tasks available for this specific event .. and among those tasks I chose to help with the "Spirit Squad" ! Hahaha, I know .. this is extremely girly of me.. but being an ex-cheerleader .. this immediately appealed to me.

I got there at 8:15am on sunday morning and was given my t-shirt, handclapper and told to go to the finish line. That's it, that's all. No further instructions and no head of volunteers at the finish line to manage / lead the volunteers. It seemed to me like the event lacked structure .. for the volunteers aspect, at least.

Sure, you don't need a diploma to figure out how to cheer people on but it would've been nice to have someone to rally the volunteers together (we ended up being all spread out because the other volunteers on the Spirit Squad were a bunch of teenage girls who really didn't wanna be there in the first place) and assign tasks to the different volunteers. I felt that a little more organization could've made the volunteers' efforts more useful.

For example, before and after cheering people on, I felt that I could've been useful in some other way but there was no head of volunteers to assign me to a new task.. I wasted a lot of time for just a little bit of cheering.

And this is why, next year, I want to register to work at the Revlon kiosk. The makeup company, Revlon, donates tons of beauty products (nail polish, lipsticks, lipglosses, nail files, etc.) and they are sold, on the day of the run, for a profit. Most products are sold for 2$ a piece.. so everybody wins .. it's a donation and it's much cheaper than buying it at the drugstore.

According to the media, about 20 000 runners and walkers participated in this event and helped collect nearly $1 650 000 ! That's how huge this event was !! Crazy !

Oh and before I forget, here's an interesting fact for you .. with all the research for treatments and awareness campaign that have been done in recent years : There are now 87% of women who had breast cancer, that beat it and survive over 5 years !! That's awesome news !

I am having the hardest time finding photos of the Montreal edition of this event so I will update if I find any .. until then, here are pictures I found of the CIBC Run for the Cure on October 4th 2009 :

Ciao,
Fannie xox

This event in the media :

"The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation raises nearly $2 million during the CIBC Run for the Cure"

by Canada Newswire - October 4th 2009

"Plus de 26 000 personnes ont participé à la marche du cancer au Québec"

by Presse Canadienne on Canoe.ca - October 5th 2009^

"Cancer du Sein - Une marche pour la vie"

by Radio-Canada - October 5th 2009

"Le cancer du sein fait courir" (On the Quebec City edition of this event)

by Le Soleil on Cyberpresse.ca - October 4th 2009

The Volunteer Logbook :

Sunday, October 4th 2009: 8:15am to 12:15pm (4 hours)

Total hours in this article : 4 hours

Current iVolunteer Project : 15 hours

Remaining iVolunteer Project : 185 hours and 346 days to go