Since 1995, Kelowna residents have been gathering in City Park in early October for the CIBC Run for the Cure.
Run for the Cure is a fundraiser for breast cancer research, and support for those battling it. Run for the Cure is a massive event that last year saw 1,350 participants raise $213,137.
“Breast cancer affects so many people, there are so many people who either have overcome breast cancer themselves or know somebody who has been affected by it,” Run Director of Fundraising Louise Richardson described of why so many people take part in the event. “It’s a cancer that although it’s typically in women, it does affect men as well. I don’t think there’s anybody in the community who doesn’t know somebody who’s had to deal with breast cancer.”
The walk/run is kicked off by having the survivors lining up every year, and Richardson said that’s always a highlight for everyone there.
“We all get very emotional, we’re handing them carnations and there isn’t a dry eye up there. There’s not a dry eye in the lineup, everyone knows somebody up there, some of us know three or four people in the survivor lineup. And every year the survivor lineup gets bigger, because people are surviving and that’s good. And as long as people keep surviving, we’ll keep giving them carnations.”
Since 1995, The CIBC Run for the Cure has raised $4.46 million in Kelowna.
