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Langleys have raised $355K to fight cancer since Terry Fox runs started

Run organizers issue appeal for volunteers
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The 2017 Terry Fox run in Langley City. File photo

Since the Terry Fox runs began, the Langleys have collectively raised $355,000 for cancer research, according to figures released by The Terry Fox Foundation.

The annual Langley City Terry Fox Run has raised over $136,000 for cancer research since it started in 2000, while the Walnut Grove run in Langley Township has collected $140,000 since its inception in 1994 and the Aldergrove run, which started in 1986, has raised $79,000.

Those amounts don’t include funds raised by local schools and other groups.

READ MORE: Tots take part in own Terry Fox Run in Langley

In the 38 years since Terry Fox set out on his Marathon of Hope, over $750 million has been raised by hundreds of thousands of participants across Canada.

The foundation has made a public appeal for volunteers to help with the 38th annual Terry Fox Run, which is taking place this year on Sunday, September 16.

Donna White, British Columbia and Yukon Provincial Director of the Terry Fox run, said the volunteers are “a human chain linked by a common purpose – to make a positive difference in the fight against cancer.”

People interested in volunteering can learn more at http://www.terryfox.org/run/ or contact the regional office at 604-464-2666, or email Serena Meister, Recruitment and Promotions Assistant at serena.meister@terryfoxrun.org.

There were 228 participants in the Langley City run last year, about the same as before, but they managed to raise a total of $13,801, or about $2,000 more than the previous year.

Achieving that result required 50 volunteers, who began setting up for the 10 a.m. start at 7 a.m.

READ MORE: Terry Fox’s story through the eyes of his younger brother, Darrell Fox

After losing a leg to cancer, Terry Fox began the Marathon of Hope in 1980 to raise money for cancer research, saying if each Canadian could contribute just a dollar, millions could be raised to fight cancer.

After 143 days and 5,373 kilometres Fox was forced to end his run near Thunder Bay, Ontario after his cancer spread to his lungs.

Terry Fox Runs have taken place every year on the second Sunday following Labour Day since September of 1981.

They are volunteer-led, all-inclusive, non-competitive events with no corporate sponsorship, incentives or fundraising minimums according to the expressed wishes of Terry Fox.

People in over 60 countries now take part in what has become the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.



dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com

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An image of Terry Fox greeted participants in the annual Langley City run in 2017. File photo


Dan Ferguson

About the Author: Dan Ferguson

Best recognized for my resemblance to St. Nick, I’m the guy you’ll often see out at community events and happenings around town.
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