The Big Move Cancer Rideis a non-competitive ride taking place to raise money that will be directed towards services and patient equipment for the Walker Family Cancer Centre. The Ride included a 50K , 100K and a 100 mile Century Challenge cycle through the Niagara Region that started and ended at Club Roma, St. Catharines.

In the fundraising community, the average expense ratio should be over 50% with over 70% being ‘excellent’. The Big Move not only surpasses this ratio, it blows it out of the water. In 2009 a ratio of 78% was achieved, in 2010 a ratio of 84%. This year, 506 riders and 210 volunteers were able to raise $453,000 after expenses! This equals $1.1 million raised in just 3 years and these funds will be directed towards the CT Simulation Suite, an essential component to radiation treatment at the Walker Family Cancer Centre.

Every 8 minutes, someone in Ontario is diagnosed with cancer. In Niagara, it is projected that 7,766 people will be diagnosed with cancer this year and 9,463 people by 2017. This is an astonishing increase of 21.5% each year. The opening of the brand new Walker Family Cancer Centre means a broad spectrum of high quality cancer treatment services will be offered in one location.

This state of the art cancer centre will proved close to home radiation treatment to 1,000 patients who currently have to travel to Hamilton and Toronto. It will also provide systematic, surgical and radiation oncology services. Operating 12 hours a day with 146 full time staff means that this centre will accommodate approximately 80,000 patients per year.

So far $37 million has been raised of the required $40 million. It’s your time to be part of the most momentous undertaking in the history of healthcare in the Niagara Region and help the It’s Our Time Campaign cross the finish line. Your donation will improve access to quality healthcare and make Niagara a leader in the vital areas of cancer care, kidney dialysis, and treatment of mental illness and heart disease!

St. Catharines General Hospital Foundation