Monday October 3, 2016
Newswise — On Saturday October 1st, the orange ball flew once again at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto as Scotiabank Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer faced off for its sixth hugely successful year. This year, 1786 players and their donors raised $2.5 million! Breaking the world records set in 2015, for number of players and funds raised in a road hockey tournament. The event provides critical funding for cancer research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the top 5 cancer research centres in the world. Through the event’s six-year Toronto history, the event has raised in excess of $14 million for The Princess Margaret.
The dawn-to-dusk event featured 150 teams of 8 to 12 players each playing five games through the course of the day. The 1786 participants were further engaged with great food, beverages, live music, massage therapy, autograph sessions and interactive games. Top fundraising teams had the opportunity to draft a celebrity onto their team to either play or coach. Among the 50 personalities available to be selected at a live draft the evening prior to the event were CBC broadcaster Peter Mansbridge, Olympic gold medalist Penny Oleksiak, the Hanson Brothers of hockey film infamy, model Monika Schnarre and Hockey Hall of Fame member Glenn Anderson. Also on hand on for Scotiabank Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer’s Game Day were Glenn Healy, former player and broadcaster, who led the Highland Creek Pipe Band into Opening Ceremonies. Summit Series hero Paul Henderson was also in attendance, as were Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup champions Johnny Bower, Bobby Baun and Red Kelly, on-site to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the hockey franchise.
Paul Alofs, President & CEO of The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (and team captain of the Passion Capitalists), expressed his excitement about the event: “Scotiabank Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer is one of the highlights of the calendar year for me. We are so appreciative of the efforts of our sponsors, board of governors, crew and volunteers, but are especially thankful for our participants and their donors who make this such a special and important event for funding programs like immunotherapy at The Princess Margaret.”
Alofs also made note of the extraordinary support received from Scotiabank as the event’s new title sponsor. John Doig, the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Scotiabank, stated, “Hockey is in the DNA of Canadians, and Scotiabank is extremely proud to add our name to this incredible event. Cancer has touched all of us in one way or another, and for Scotiabank to contribute to conquering cancer in our lifetime is very important to our organization.”
The top fundraisers year after year happens to be the Division Head of Gynecologic Oncology at The Princess Margaret, Dr. Marcus Bernardini (captain of the Ovarian Blitzers team). “The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation supports the efforts of the cancer centre in an extraordinary way, and we are so appreciative of all of their efforts. For me to give back by playing a game that I love is my thanks to The Foundation, but even moreso, to all those who play and contribute to raising funds for cancer research. Thank you! And game on, cancer!”
The top individual fundraiser this year was Dr. Marcus Bernardini who raised $55,502. The top fundraising team was Ovarian Blitzers who raised $93,825 while the Corporate Challenge Cup was won by Hatch Engineering who raised $206,008.
Hatch – once again – has won the Corporate Challenge Cup marking the 5th year in a row they achieved that feat. More importantly, this pushed Hatch past the $1.0M raised threshold for Scotiabank Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, since 2012. Bruce MacKay - Managing Director at Hatch – who is also a longstanding ambassador and honourary chair for the event, said, “Participating in the Scotiabank Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer offers our employees a great vehicle to give back through the game we love. Giving is part of our culture and Princess Margaret and Hatch have had a longstanding relationship together. We’re pleased and proud to make such a significant impact through our involvement in this amazing event.”
MacKay added, “Over the past five years, we have lost three of our road hockey teammates to cancer. These were young people in the prime of their lives. We must find a solution to the cancer puzzle and the PMCF is a key player to finding a cure.”
For more information or to donate to the event, visit teamuptoconquercancer.ca.
About ScotiabankThrough our global community investment strategy, Scotiabank and its employees support causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2015, Scotiabank contributed $67 million to help our communities around the world.Scotiabank is Canada’s international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 88,000 employees and assets of $907 billion (as at July 31, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank’s media releases using Marketwired. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.
About Princess Margaret Cancer Centre The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre has achieved an international reputation as a global leader in the fight against cancer and delivering Personalized Cancer Medicine. The Princess Margaret, one of the top 5 cancer research centres in the world, is a member of the University Health Network, which also includes Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and The Michener Institute for Education at UHN. All are research hospitals affiliated with the University of Toronto. www.theprincessmargaret.ca About The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation at University Health Network is raising funds to lead the way in Personalized Cancer Medicine at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, which includes The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute and The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research. www.thepmcf.ca
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