A total of 120 people — among them, many who are helping friends and family through cancer — came out to the ninth annual Road to Hope Fundraiser at the Athabasca Golf and Country Club Sept. 6.
The golfers braved rainy weather at the beginning of the tournament to support the Road to Hope Foundation, which provides transportation for people suffering from cancer in order to get them to and from their appointments.
Road to Hope Fundraising chair Keith Windeler said this was the first time ever they had attracted enough golfers to sell out early.
"This is the foundation's second-biggest fundraiser," Windeler said. "We also do a fun-run in Lac La Biche. We usually make lots of money at these events, and the support we get from our sponsors and our regulars is overwhelming. It's a tremendous amount of work for our volunteers, but it always seems to come together."
Road to Hope President Roger Poulin said this year has been a very busy one for them.
"At the end of August of last year, we did 156 trips," Poulin said. "This year, we are already at 210 during the same time period. This represents about a 30 per cent increase in the use of our services."
One group of golfers called themselves Team Jossy after former Road to Hope secretary Jocelyn Loken, who is going through her second bout with cancer.
"She survived her first bout with the disease six years ago," one of the team members, Tasha Kapitaniuk, said. "Though she is back in the battle, we are all here to support her, whether she is here in person or not."
Another group, led by Lina Bonneville, call themselves the Super Seniors.
"All the team members are between the ages of 69 and 72," Bonneville said. "The tournament went really well for us, and we go to the tournament every year. Tournaments like these really shows how the community continues to come together."
Athabasca Lion's Club team member David Maguire, who also serves as the club's treasurer, said he was grateful for the services that were offered by the program.
"It's because of Road to Hope that I was even able to attend the golf tournament," Maguire said. "My moment to use them came just before Christmas, when a series of tests resulted in me being referred to the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton."
He said he drove himself to his first appointment.
"They took ten vials of blood from me during this initial appointment," Maguire said. "That took a lot of energy out of me, and I was in the driver's seat. Lucky for me, I was able to find a Vietnamese restaurant in St. Albert on the way home that fed me very quickly. So I knew for my next trip, driving was out of the question."
He said it was his daughter who first told him about the Road to Hope program, and he immediately gave them a call.
"(Transportation co-ordinator) Madena Reimer arranged everything," he said. "The courteous drivers arrived on time, waited for me at the Cross Cancer Institute, and drove me home. I took a total of 29 trips to the institute."
Maguire said he had about 10 different drivers take him to and from his appointments.
"Some I had twice, others I had three times," he said. "Each of the drivers I had came from Athabasca, Lac La Biche and Plamondon."
Reimer said they were thrilled to see the turnout at the event.
"It shows the people are still supporting us," she said. "It's awesome to see some familiar faces, and even some new faces coming back year after year."
Lion's Club president Mark Neaves said that his mother has been going through cancer treatments, as well.
"Road to Hope is a fantastic community organization," he said. "The Lion's Club put in a team for the first time this year, and we also donated $1,000 and sponsored a food table at hole number 16."
Athabasca Golf and Country Club general manager Geoff Dunn said he was really pleased with how the day turned out.
"In Alberta, you never know what kind of weather you are going to get, so you've just got to be prepared," Dunn said. "Despite the rain at the beginning, the sun was out by the time the tournament ended."
He said the Road to Hope remains a long-standing tournament at the facility.
"They have held it every year at the facility in September," Dunn continued. "It's a good tournament, and we definitely love to have the charity tournaments at our facility."
