Terry Fox Run raises $4,700 in Moose Jaw despite pandemic challenges

It’s been a common refrain for pretty much every charity during the ongoing pandemic -- fundraising efforts are down because people have been unable to gather and have other more pressing concerns than donating to their favourite organization.

But through it all, the Moose Jaw edition of the Terry Fox Run has managed to not only excel, they’ve also even seen their donations increase.

The 2021 edition of the annual event took place on Sept. 19 and ended up raising a total of $4,700, an impressive $1,000 more than was raised a year ago and $1,500 more than was raised in 2019.

“It’s always inspiring when people support the run and especially the last couple years when we haven’t been able to have the event full scale like has happened in the past,” said Moose Jaw Terry Fox Run organizer Craig Hemingway. “To be able to raise more money each year over the last three years has been tremendous. So we’d like to thank everybody who participated in any way, shape or form.”

Moose Jaw has traditionally turned out in force to support the Run, so to see the community come through in such a way isn’t unusual. But to raise ever-increasing totals in the midst of a pandemic was an impressive turn of events.

“I would say we’re pleasantly surprised, we know that Moose Jaw people are giving and we know the legacy that Terry Fox left, and because of that and people’s passion to participate and give in his memory, it’s not a huge surprise,” Hemingway said. “It’s just very rewarding.”

A large portion of the funds came through online donations, something the Terry Fox Foundation put a much larger focus on over the last two years. Locally, that translated into $3,600, with an additional $1,100 brought in through t-shirt and merchandise sales. 

The Run proper was a low-key event that took place in Wakamow Valley, with around 25 people signing in and going for a stroll in the park on what turned out to be a beautiful fall day.

“So people are looking for ways to help and if they can’t do it with the regular run they’ll do it other ways, which really worked out for us,” Hemingway said, adding that having a presence at the Farmer’s Market through the summer also helped. “There were multiple ways to donate and people found ways to be a part of it all and to help out.”

The Terry Fox Run annual raises more than $20 million from events all over the world, with funds going toward cancer research.