Melanie Gainforth is proud of what North Bay has been able to accomplish. Over the past 14 years, the CIBC Run for the Cure has raised close to $1.2 million locally.
Gainforth, a CIBC Run for the Cure organizer, was among city officials and bank officials at the downtown branch as this week was proclaimed pink week in advance for the cancer fundraising event which takes place at the waterfront on October 6.
She believes the event allows the community to come together to support the women in our lives.
“The committee is made up of volunteers and the funds that are raised are raised by the community with their pledge sheets,” she said.
“There are events such as yard sales and bake sales and even spaghetti dinners.”
Christine Comeau will be telling her cancer survival story at the event on October 6. She was told she had two years to live by her doctor over five years ago.
Not only has she overcome the challenges of cancer, but she also created a support group for other women suffering from cancer.
“I realized there was nothing here in North Bay,” said Comeau about the support group.
“A few of us girls got together and we felt there was a need here in North Bay that is when I decided to get the group up and going on facebook and we just get together for tea or coffee or my house to share what our feelings are and what we are going through but all different stages.
“I just want to help them and it feels fabulous for me to be able to do that.”
Gainforth says Comeau shows there is more to Run for the Cure than just fundraising.
“We are here to support, we are here to commemorate, we are here to celebrate the journey and the process and the hope that we have that women are surviving longer and that we will overcome breast cancer,” she said.
"As a community we come together we wear pink, we raise our dollars but we are supporting our loved ones and our neighbours."
Anyone interested in supporting the CIBC Run for the Cure can sign up online or in the morning of the event.
