It's very difficult to choose the charities to benefit from a cause such as this. We have chosen recipients who have either impacted the founder very directly or those institutions that we believe will be locally relevant in each of the markets where we expand. As we expand further, we will continue to add research and treatment facilities to our list. It is clear that each of the chosen charities have one thing in common…they have a great distaste for this illness and they would like to beat it into submission.

CBCF is an organization completely devoted to creating a future without breast cancer with  the mission of supporting the advancement of breast cancer research, education, diagnosis and treatment.

This foundation has helped to make Canada one of the leading countries in helping to battle the disease. Throughout the development of Yard Sale for the Cure, we have received terrific support, encouragement and advice from the experts at CBCF.  They are a  professional group of people devoted to the cause

Established in 1986, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation is the leading national volunteer-based organization in Canada dedicated to creating a future without breast cancer. The Foundation works collaboratively to fund, support and advocate for: relevant and innovative research; meaningful education and awareness programs; early diagnosis and effective treatment; and a positive quality of life for those living with breast cancer.

Fundraising – through events such as Yard Sale for the Cure– has enabled the Foundation to allocate millions of dollars to breast cancer research and community programs.

The CBCF - Prairies/NWT Chapter (including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories) is pleased to be involved with an event as important as Yard Sale for the Cure!

The Alberta Cancer Foundation accepts and raises funds to support Alberta Cancer Board research projects, prevention initiatives, equipment and technology acquisition, and cancer treatment and support programs at the Cross Cancer Institute and 16 other cancer treatment facilities in Alberta.

All of the funds that are directed to the Alberta Cancer Foundation through Yard Sale for the Cure in Edmonton and area will be directed to the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton.  These funds will, in turn, fund breast cancer research programs taking place at the Cross, as well as prevention and screening programs.  100% of funds raised stay in Alberta.  To learn more about breast cancer research and care in Alberta, please visit http://www.albertabreast.com/

For more information about the Alberta Cancer Foundation, please visit our website at www.cancerboard.ab.ca/foundation. Thank you for doing your part in the fight against breast cancer and helping to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those patients and their families who are facing cancer in Alberta!

Located at Trillium Health Centre’s Queensway Site in Etobicoke, the Betty Wallace Women’s Health Centre specializes in screening and early intervention for breast cancer and screening for osteoporosis. Here, women with potential breast disease or osteoporosis benefit from a ‘one-stop shop’ approach where they can see a team of specialists and have their screening and initial intervention procedures conducted in one convenient location.

Mammography, bone densitometry and surgical consultations all happen within the privacy of the Women’s Health Centre, with breast ultrasound available in the Diagnostic Imaging department next door. The bone densitometry is performed on a new Lunar unit capable of completing a patient’s bone density exam in half the time of conventional bone density units. 

Through the consolidation of services and comprehensive tracking, the Women’s Health Centre expects to minimize wait times, and ultimately, through screening and early intervention, lead to more positive outcomes for women faced with these two diseases.

The Betty Wallace Women’s Health Centre is named in memory of Betty Wallace, a community resident who lost her courageous fight with breast cancer in 1993. Her son, local entrepreneur Kevin Wallace, co-owner of Gears Bike Shop in Port Credit, together with his business partner, Ira Kargel, has pledged $3million towards the Women’s Health Centre, allowing the centre to take shape and become a reality. The pair continues to successfully raise funds for the Betty Wallace Women’s Health Centre through their annual 24-Hour Spin for Breast Cancer, held at the Hershey Centre in Mississauaga in February of each year.

The Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP)

The Betty Wallace Women’s Health Centre is a certified Ontario Breast Screening Centre meaning women over the age of 50 can self refer. Women who are screened at OBSP sites receive services that are accredited by the Canadian Association of Radiologists. The OBSP is a comprehensive, organized breast cancer screening program operated by Cancer Care Ontario with a mission to reduce mortality from breast cancer by delivering high quality breast screening to women between the ages of 50 and 74. The OBSP provides high quality mammography and a clinical breast examination by a specially trained nurse examiner, and information about breast self-examination.

York Region has been identified as one of the areas in Ontario most in need of improved cancer treatment services. Southlake Regional Cancer Centre has recently obtained approval, from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, to move forward with their bold vision for the future of cancer care in York Region.

The new Regional Cancer Centre will serve as the designated cancer treatment centre for nearly 1.2 million people living in the region. The full range of services will include diagnostics, surgery, chemotherapy, support services, clinical trials and – very importantly – radiation. Having radiation treatment facilities will help ensure that most patients do not need to travel to Toronto for their treatments.

The plan is to open the facility by 2008 and Southlake is now beginning an ambitious fundraising campaign to raise the required share of this new comprehensive program. Your donation will help bring this facility on line more quickly so that state of the art treatment can be provided right here in our community.

St. Joseph's Health Centre builds on the legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph's.

It is the main provider of inpatient, general hospital services for more than 500,000 people in Toronto. The Health Centre is currently in the final phase of a $124 million redevelopment project that will support all five of their clinical programs areas. Patients and staff are already benefiting from the redevelopment, specifically the cancer care setting, with the renovation of its Oncology Unit. The chemotherapy clinic has ten treatment stations with custom recliners, personal televisions and a wide view of Lake Ontario. St. Joseph's is committed to providing cancer care patients and their families with an environment that is more conducive to healing.

With over 229,000 patient visits per year, the Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre (TSRCC) is one of the largest cancer care centres in North America. Sunnybrook’s unique focus on women’s health across its programs lends strength to research and care of patients including those with breast cancer—a top priority for the Hospital. In tandem with our capital expansion, Sunnybrook is creating a new Breast Cancer Research Centre—a state of the art and conceptually innovative project—over more than 60,000 square feet on one of the new floors in M-Wing, scheduled for completion in late 2008/early 2009.

You walk into this facility and you quickly come to understand that you've entered into a place where they take cancer very seriously. When the cure for breast cancer is found, it will likely be with the significant assistance of this organization.  Rachael's doctor at this hospital  was clearly at the head of the field, we saw him interviewed on tv several times during her treatments and he shared that common trait of compassion and empathy that we became so familiar with in our exposure to this community of caregivers.

While it was a hard place for Rachael to walk into every day for 6 weeks, we left it with an admiration for the staff and a sense that they are definitely closing in on this disease. As a good friend of mine said to me   -  "If I was cancer, I'd be scared"  .   That's how cancer should feel about this organization.

The Carlo Fidani Peel Regional Cancer Centre at The Credit Valley Hospital is proud of its world class team of experts who are bringing cancer care closer to home for thousands of patients in the communities of Peel, Halton, Dufferin, Wellington, Simcoe and beyond. Credit Valley and Cancer Care Ontario partnered to conceptualize, develop and build the cancer centre using the guiding principles of integration and patient-centred high-quality-care.

The regional cancer centre includes chemotherapy and radiation treatment. It is anticipated that between 30,000 – 35,000 visits will take place as part of the radiation program at the centre on a yearly basis. In the chemotherapy area, the number of systemic oncology visits during the first full year of operation will be approximately 50,000 visits compared to 20,000 visits for systemic therapy in the past. The centre provides a more intensive, sophisticated level of cancer treatment than has been previously available in the GTA West.  

The Toronto East General Hospital is the Beaches community  hospital . It is also the hospital where Rachael received her surgery and chemotherapy. We have nothing but good things to say about how we were treated there. We had done a fair bit of research on the hospital as it, obviously, felt like a very big decision. We were assured, by people who know, that we would get the highest standard of care at this hospital. And we did. It has wonderful surgical and oncology units that looked after us with compassion and care. Watching Rachael go into surgery was a low point in my life. That said, I felt very calm in that her doctor had prepared us for what was to come and we knew that he was among the very best in the field.

The oncology unit is relatively small so we got to know the staff very well.   The treatments were tough and long, but somehow you came to look forward to them as another one would be done and you knew that you were treating the illness. You also looked forward to seeing the staff as they would always make you feel better and they truly could empathize with what you were going through.   Some six months later, we have been back in to visit and they greet us by name and give Rachael a  big hug. TEGH  is a very humane and caring place.

Our thanks to this group is to help them give an even higher standard of care by helping them buy some of the things they need.