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$ 1.5 Million raised at BC Cancer Foundation Inspiration Gala kick-starts major brain cancer project at BC Cancer Agency
2008 Inspiration Gala supports vision to “revolutionize” Agency’s brain cancer research and care for B.C. patients
October 24, 2008 - An anonymous gift of $500,000 was one of many inspiring moments for the 350 guests at last night’s BC Cancer Foundation 2008 Inspiration Gala which raised a total of $1.5 million in support of the BC Cancer Agency’s new BrainCare project.
The sold-out evening which was organized by a volunteer committee chaired by Jane Hungerford and Wendy Armstrong, was filled with the personal stories of people who had lost their loved ones to the disease.
“Cancer inspired my dad to help fight for a cure, inspired him to become more involved, more generous,” said Daniel Porte, describing how his late father Hershey Porte created an endowment fund for cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency after he was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2004. “My father wanted to help not only himself, but others who had been, and would be diagnosed with brain cancer,” Porte said.
Twenty-year-old Langara college basketball star Carling Muir, who is surviving and thriving after brain cancer surgery last year, also attended the event, where the entire crowd stood to sing Happy Birthday to her. She will turn 21 on Monday October 27. The event, emceed by CTV’s Pamela Martin, included silent and live auctions and a formal dinner followed by a performance by the Vancouver Circus School that thrilled the ring-side audience in Vancouver’s Rocky Mountaineer Station.
The anonymous gift was announced as a challenge to guests, to match it dollar for dollar, to a maximum of $500,000. During a spirited live auction, guests donated a further $500,000 bringing the challenge total to an even $1 million.
Dr. Brian Toyota, head of the BC Cancer Agency’s Neuro-oncology group, described the Agency’s BrainCare project he co-founded. “Our vision is to revolutionize research and the current standard of care for all brain cancer patients in B.C. BrainCare will cut across basic and clinical research platforms within the BC Cancer Agency to take full advantage of recent advances in functional cancer imaging, molecular pathology, genomics and radiation therapy. Tonight, BC Cancer Foundation donors have helped us take the first steps, to fund new clinical trials at the BC Cancer Agency for the benefit of all B.C. neuro-oncology patients - thank you.”
BC Cancer Foundation Board chair Pat Jacobsen and Board Vice-Chair John Jennings added their thanks. “We are deeply grateful to everyone here tonight, to our anonymous donor and to BC Cancer Foundation donors for their extraordinary generosity,” Jacobsen said. “The money you have given tonight will make a difference in the lives of patients and their families who experience brain cancer.”
According to the BC Cancer Agency, brain cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers, at 24 per cent, compared to 86 per cent for breast cancer and 92 per cent for prostate cancer.
The BC Cancer Foundation raises funds to support research and enhancements to care at the BC Cancer Agency, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority that provides a comprehensive cancer control program for residents of B.C. and the Yukon.
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