Local chapter prepped for annual Terry Fox Run

By Heather Cameron
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Teresa Baldry is currently involved in the Taber chapter of the Terry Fox Foundation.

Baldry’s daughter, Tess, who is a mother of four small children, was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago at the age of 32. Fortunately, Baldry says, Tess has had surgery and treatment and is currently in remission. 

That said, Baldry wanted to do something to support cancer research even before her daughter was affected by cancer because she has always had a soft spot in her heart for Terry Fox. 

“I remember where I was when he was doing his Marathon of Hope and I remember watching on TV when he had to stop and when his cancer had returned and he couldn’t finish his run,” Baldry said. “And it just had such a profound effect on me.”

In 2008, Baldry eventually joined the committee. The volunteer committee, Baldry says, currently consists of herself, chairperson Wanda Renner, Colleen Pack, Emily Evanson, Leslie Badura, Hollis Pickerell, Heather Brantner, and Yvonne Dreaddy.

“They are just wonderful women who are committed to the cause,” Baldry said. “And I’ve really enjoyed working with them and doing my small part in helping raise awareness and helping raise money for research. When I did my research about Terry Fox Foundation and all that they do, they had the most per dollar went straight to research. And that’s what really attracted me to the Terry Fox Foundation, is just because of how they managed the money and where the actual dollars and cents went to instead of huge administration fees and costs; it’s to actual research.”

Baldry considers the committee very community minded and is pleased about how they promote community involvement and are also involved with the local schools. Baldry says that the Terry Fox Foundation in Taber and the Cotton Pickers quilting group in Taber even collaborated to put together a quilt made from different t-shirts that were produced over the years.

“We just live in a wonderful community that really does good things to help their citizens and people who are suffering,” Baldry said. “It’s been a really positive thing for me to just be a very small part of this. And over the years we’ve had bake sales and all kinds of things and was always very well supported by the community, and it’s just been really heartwarming to watch all the things that have transpired.”

Baldry says that another positive thing that the Taber chapter of the Terry Fox Foundation does is the Terry Fox Run and this year’s run will take place at 9 a.m. on September 16 in Taber.

“The official run is on the 17th across Canada, but we’ve always kind of tried to accommodate our community and having it on Saturday makes it so there’s a wider group of people that can participate,” Baldry said. “And so, we do it on Saturday and your registration starts at 8:30 on Saturday morning at the Civic Center and it’s pretty easy. There’s people there to help you and assist you as you register. And we usually have a draw for the kids that come; they put their name in a draw and almost everyone gets something. We also sell t-shirts there.”

The route for the run, Baldry says, begins at the Taber Community Centre and follows the path around behind and travelling in and around the nearby subdivision.

“Anyone can be a part of it,” Baldry said. “You wanna ride your bike, you wanna walk, roller blade, whatever, you certainly can. We just try to encourage people to come and be a part of it. The goal is to raise awareness and money for research, Our community has been really generous every year in spite of hardships and things that have happened over the years that that’s made it more difficult to contribute, but they always come through and it’s been kind of amazing to watch it.”