The Mariners officially presented a cheque to representatives of the Dr. Edwin Janke Cancer Centre, which is located within the Yarmouth Regional Hospital complex.
The bulk of the money was raised through the auctioning of custom pink jerseys that the players wore at their home games in the month of October. In addition to the 21 player jerseys that were auctioned there were also four no-name jerseys auctioned off that any name can be added to. Bids for the 25 individual jerseys ranged from $175 to $500.
Part of the total that was donated – $643 – came courtesy of a basket raffle run by Carmen Coffin during Pink in the Rink.
Aside from raising money for the cancer centre, the Pink in the Rink initiative is also about drawing awareness to breast cancer research.
Accepting the cheque from Keith Condon, an owner of the Mariners, and Mariners captain Ryan Daley, were Darolyn Walker and Heather Campbell of the Dr. Edwin Janke Cancer Centre.
“It’s awesome to be able to receive this amount of money and the team has specifically asked that it be directed to our cancer centre and for comfort measures for our patients, not be used to travel or things like that, it’s to be used directly for patients within out unit,” said Campbell.
Part of the reason for the Mariners’ request that the money not be directed towards travel is because there are other organizations in place that help patients with the costs associated with traveling for cancer treatments.
Walker, the area’s cancer patient navigator, provides examples of comfort measures that the donation will help with at the cancer centre.
“Things that people who have had surgery may need, like prosthesis, wigs, different things for cancer patients to keep them comfortable during their treatments like blankets, that type of thing,” she says.
Walker says the centre, which serves people from Yarmouth, Shelburne and Digby counties, receives about 30 newly-diagnosed patients a month.
Previous to the cheque donation, Keith Condon had said that the Mariners are proud to be supporting the centre through Pink in the Rink.
“We want to do things for the community and to show our support,” he said.
The Dr. Edwin Janke Cancer Centre is the regional centre for cancer services in southwestern Nova Scotia. All cancer-related and oncology services and resources are located here on the 4th floor, Building C, of the Yarmouth Regional Hospital. In 2013 the centre was named after Dr. Janke for his vision and leadership that led to the creation of this cancer centre, along with his three decades of dedication and contribution to lives of countless patients.
The cheque presentation was made prior to the Mariners’ Nov. 5 game versus the Miramichi Timberwolves. The Mariners won the game 4-3.
