Three Westlock-area schools raised close to $5,000 at their Terry Fox Runs last week.
Eleanor Hall School in Clyde and Dapp School raised the most, with Clyde students bringing in $2,667, while Dapp brought in $1,532 — which adds to the impressive total of $7,321 raised at Dapp School during its last five runs.
In Clyde nearly 300 students, staff and parents participated in the event.
“I think that Terry Fox started a tradition and set the bar high for us,” said Ramie Drake, associate principal at Eleanor Hall. “So, in honour of him, I think it’s important for students to run and raise money in his honour. There’s many students and staff members and parents who have family members affected by cancer and it’s a very timely topic, so it’s something that Eleanor Hall values. They value this and it is very well supported.”
Drake said her junior high students ran through the Village of Clyde and out onto the highway, while the Kindergarten to Grade 6 students did laps around the ag grounds.
“We have a really good turnout of student staff and parents. We have about 280 people participating in the run today,” said Drake. “It’s an annual tradition for our school that is really well supported by our students and their families.”
Westlock Elementary raised roughly $400 during its run.
Hundreds of students at the school gathered outside the entrance to the school to listen to gym teacher Steve McKenna explain why the fundraiser is an institution of Canada.
“The Terry Fox Run is important for kids because it teaches them some values and what one person can do when they set their mind to something,” said McKenna. “Terry Fox was really a nobody until he started running across Canada, and to this day, his foundation has raised over $600 million and brought awareness to cancer in Canada. So, I think it’s a really powerful message that one person can do a lot for a cause.”
Canadian icon Terry Fox’s goal was to raise money and promote awareness about the effects of cancer by running one marathon a day across the country.
In fact, Fox ran about 42 kilometres a day through Canada’s Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario before the disease appeared in his lungs and forced him to stop running on Sept. 1, 1980. His health declined and Fox passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.
There are millions of people in roughly 25 countries who participate in The National School Run Day, The Terry Fox Run, and Terry Fox fundraising events every year, according to the Terry Fox Foundation. There are even 14 schools and 15 roads in Canada named after Fox.
The Terry Fox Foundation has raised more than $600 million for cancer research in his name worldwide through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the globe.
While some Terry Fox events have seen a decline in attendance, McKenna said there’s no way that will ever happen at WES while he was on staff.
“It’s going to be here as long as I’m here,” he said. “And I know that if I wasn’t here, people on staff would step up and take over here, because it’s an important message for the kids to see and understand some of the Canadian icons that we have,” he said.
