On August 10, Team Vermilion Ride for Cancer held their main fundraiser at the Vermilion Heritage Park.
“This is our main fundraiser and all the guests here this evening is by private invite as we are serving pizza and beer and we had to acquire a special license for the event,” explained Team captain, Darren Bratrud.
Bratrud and his team members worked hard baking pizza that was purchased through Express Pizza for the anticipated 120 guests, of which some were previous donors and others were new faces to the fundraising event. Like last year, the team will be completing their ride in Vermilion on August 28. The fundraiser was a success as the team raised $1,400.
Each team member has their personal reasons for participating in the ride, but Bratrud has several reasons why he has been completing the ride since 2018 as stated on his ride for cancer webpage.
“I will Ride for this cause! It is near and dear to my heart because of the great and strong people it has taken. Most recently, my friend Murray Westman lost his battle with cancer in a short and intense fight. From the time he had been diagnosed, he not once had a break, he kept his hopes up for the next test, the next hurdle, and even till the day he died, he did not give up.
In 1995, my brother Dale had a similar type of fight. After a simple tear duct surgery, he was called a few hours later and was told that he needed to be at Cross Cancer Institute Monday morning. Six months later, we were saying goodbye to him.
In 2000, my Dad lost his battle with cancer at age 63, he was able to live with cancer for 5 years but wasn’t able to make the all-clear mark which was 5 years.
My Grandpa and my 1st cousin both died too young from cancer as well. My cousin at 55 years old and Grandpa at 62.
There are way too many people that I have known throughout my years that have gotten cancer and lost their battles, and there are so many living examples of people who have conquered cancer.”
If you would like to donate you can visit https://support.touralbertaforcancer.ca/team/352035