Get Involved: Lockerby Kids Caring for Kids Cancer Drive

On October 26th, 2017, Lockerby Composite School will be hosting their annual Kids Caring For Kids Cancer Drive! Students will be canvassing the Greater Sudbury Area to raise funds for the Northern Cancer Foundation and Sudbury’s pediatric cancer care center. This great charity fundraiser began nearly 22 years ago; we talked to Lockerby student and committee co-chair Mia Jensen about the history of the Cancer Drive and how our whole community can get involved this year!

Can you tell us a little bit about the Lockerby Kids Caring for Kids Cancer Drive? When was it founded, and why?

Lockerby student Laura Cotesta, an active member of our school community who was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor in 1987, founded the Cancer Drive in 1995. Without a treatment center in Sudbury, Laura and her family were forced to travel to Southern Ontario for treatment. As a result, she missed a lot of school, and she was separated from her relatives and friends. Her goal was to allow children with cancer to be treated closer to home. With this goal in mind, she started the Lockerby Kids Caring for Kids Cancer Drive which kick-started funding for the Northern Cancer Foundation’s pediatric cancer care center.

Who is involved, and what is the goal of the annual drive?

This year’s Cancer Drive committee started planning the event in May of this year. The committee is made up of 14 grade 11 and 12 students and four teachers. As a committee, we organize the event, with the help of the Northern Cancer Foundation, and plan everything around it, like assembly, apparel, other fundraisers like grocery bagging and a Silent Auction, and we encourage students to participate. The Cancer Drive is an event for the entire school. Every year we have several hundred students canvassing the streets of Sudbury and going door-to-door collecting donations. Our goal is to raise as much money as we can in support of kids with Cancer in Northern Ontario. All the money we raise stays in Sudbury.

 

Is there a fundraising goal for 2017?

Every year is different, so we never set a fundraising goal. However, our goal within the school is to have 100% participation of the student body. Every penny counts!

Where are the funds that are raised donated/what do they support?

The money we raise goes to the Northern Cancer Foundation here in Sudbury and supports the pediatric cancer care center. The goal is to allow the Foundation the necessary resources to allow children to receive treatment closer to home, rather than needed to travel to Toronto.

How can we do our part to get involved with this year’s Cancer Drive?

If any Lockerby students come to your door on the night of October 26th, any donation would be greatly appreciated! If you have a child or relative attending Lockerby, we are looking for volunteer drivers on the night of Cancer Drive to bring students to the area where they will be canvassing. Call the school for more information. You can also donate to the Northern Cancer Foundation on their website. Everything that is raised in Sudbury stays in Sudbury.

 

Find out more by visiting the Lockerby Cancer Drive website and Instagram, and the Northern Cancer Foundation.