After decades of championing the Terry Fox Run in Thorold—and passing the torch to Cindy Dickson for this year’s event—Michael Charron was thrilled to see his hometown reach a milestone last Sunday.
“We have now exceeded $400,000,” he announced as cheers and applause erupted from the throng of walkers, runners, and cyclists who gathered at Thorold Secondary School before the 39th annual run.
Much of that was due to Ray Philip and his son Cameron, who together raised an astonishing $4,375 for the cause as a tribute to Ray's parents (See story here).
As always, the Thorold Pipe Band kicked off the event by leading the crowd with music along Carleton Street.
And as always, a familiar sea of orange T-shirts, sporting a picture of William McCleary, and his life span, 1971-2002, made their way along the route—worn by family, friends, and even dogs in the devoted group of Terry Fox supporters, called ‘McCleary’s Spirit.’
Charron thanked the crowd, adding, “I think that if Terry Fox was here with us, he’d be saying ‘Thank you’ as well.”
“I’ve done this for a number of years,” he continued. “I do this because of a 10-year-old guy, and I worked with his dad, and found it absolutely unbelievable that I had to go to his funeral. It’s time we found a solution to this problem.”
According to Charron, “We even have research being done at Brock (University), which is funded from here.”
“In excess of $400,000 is phenomenal for a community this size,” he told the Thorold News. “As I hand it over to Cindy, I know she’ll do a tremendous job.”
“Thank you to everybody that’s here today,” said Dickson, before the Run. “You are all making a difference in somebody’s life. We are going to try and make it possible for every person to be cured from cancer. That’s our goal. I am honoured to be approached and asked to take over for Mike. I hope you will be coming for years to come, because I know I will be here.”
Dickson told the Thorold News that, as of Tuesday, Thorold had raised $25,235 for this year's Run, not counting contributions from the schools, which will be added to the total later.
