'It's very close to home': CancerCare Challenge for Life raises $1 million for cancer research in Manitoba
One of CancerCare Manitoba's signature events returned for the first time in years Saturday, to enormous success.
It was the 16th annual Challenge for Life in Assiniboine Park, but the first in-person event since 2019.
Participants completed a 20k or 5k walk, or participated online in a virtual event.
More than 800 people registered for the challenge, each pledging to raise at least $250 for the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.
Many of the participants had very personal reasons for taking part in the walk.
"I have an uncle who is going under extreme chemo right now, and I also had a girlfriend that just had a double mastectomy," said Andrea Patterson.
"About five years ago, my father fought his battle with kidney cancer," said Krisinda Beckett. "I lost my uncle to lung cancer this year, and I lost a very close friend - the same day that my daughter was born - to cancer."
Starting at 9 a.m., the 20k walk began and ended at Assiniboine Park, while the 5k walk roamed through the park. Virtual participants took on their own challenges around the province from May 27-June 3 to raise money.
"All the funds raised through Challenge for Life stay right here in Manitoba to support Manitobans and their families who are affected by cancer. This year we raised over a million dollars for Challenge for Life. It’s incredible,” said Laura Curtis, communications and marketing director with CancerCare Manitoba.
Between 2008 and 2022, the event raised more than $15.3 million to support prevention, early detection, treatment, research, and patient support at CancerCare Manitoba.
Beckett said cancer is something that affects everyone. "It's very close to home, it's in everyone's home," she said. "And it's something we need to do to help our community."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.