With just under a month to go until Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer benefitting the BC Cancer Foundation there is still time to help us share the remarkable stories of the courageous, dedicated people who are getting off the bench to improve cancer research outcomes.
An estimated 8,900 people living in Canada will be diagnosed with lymphoma in 2013. Two years ago, on his 12th birthday, Hunter Miller became one of those people. After receiving the diagnosis, the Okanagan boy and his family were fortunate—eight months after being diagnosed, Hunter was declared cancer-free. Hunter, and others like him, benefit from the cutting-edge lymphoma research and cancer care happening right here in BC.
When Hunter heard about Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer he immediately decided he wanted to play in honour of his grandfather who sadly passed away from lung cancer two months after Hunter’s remission diagnosis. Being only 12 at the time Hunter was not eligible to play, so his mother Denise Oberg-Miller decided to put a team together and fundraise. Not only did she learn how to play road hockey and raise funds for cancer research, she created a lasting legacy for her son.
In its first year, Denise’s team Giving In is Not Acceptable (Gina)’s Rock raised over $14,000. This year, nine moms—including Shelley Kirs whose son Aidan survived a diagnosis of Hepatoblastoma as an infant—are uniting to try to surpass last year’s total. (And considering that Oliver’s population is just 5,000 people, the funds raised by Gina’s Rock are hard earned!)
On September 14, these now-seasoned Road Hockey moms will take to the courts at Concord Pacific Place in Vancouver along with hundreds of other players, to do something truly impactful as they face off against cancer. Friends and family will join together for this fun dawn-to-dusk event, featuring hundreds of players, awesome musical acts, celebrity appearances, interactive activities, massages, food, drink, and more.
The teams will come together for five road hockey in games of 4 on 4 and top fundraising teams qualify for the celebrity draft, which could see them playing alongside former Canucks Cliff Ronning and Gino Odjick or Barry McDonald and Don Taylor from Team 1040 or Tara Teng (Miss Canada World 2012)! And the sooner teams are organized and registered the sooner they are entered for a chance to win a suite experience at a Canucks pre-season game.
With your help, Gina’s Rock hopes to raise as much money as possible so that we can support The BC Cancer Foundation.
We have an account set up at CIBC in Oliver Account # 00360-7866038
Thank you so much, from Gina’s Rock!