BARRINGTON PASSAGE, N.S. — By KATHY JOHNSON
TRI-COUNTY VANGUARD
More than $57,000 was raised at the 13th annual Walk for a Cause on Sept. 14 in support of the Rosalin
Nickerson Care Fund.
“Everything went super well,” said Shelley, D’Eon, who founded the Rosalin Nickerson Care Fund in 2004 in memory of her mother. “I found that everybody came with such a great attitude…the community has really caught on to the concept of what I’m trying to accomplish… Everybody is doing their part to make it successful. It’s not just me and the committee.”
An estimated 300 people attended the event, including some 100 cancer survivors. Music, a guest cancer survivor speaker, a survivor’s walk, and rose laying and bubble release ceremonies in memory of those who have passed and in honour of those who have survived are among the events held during Walk for a Cause. A Dutch auction, bid auction, hospitality room and face painting were also part of the festivities.
What Walk for a Cause is all about is to show cancer survivors and those battling the disease that “we love them, we’ve got their back, we’re here for them, they’re never going to be alone and all they’ve got to do is let us know and somebody going to step up for them,” said d’Eon.
This year’s cancer survivor speaker Buddy Jones was a huge encouragement to people, said d’Eon, adding there’s always something that a guest speaker says that “makes a difference to someone who is battling it currently, just went through it or just survived it.”
Everlasting love because of a grandmother’s love was the theme for this year’s event in honour of the late Melvina Nickerson and Joyce Swim. Next year, Walk for a Cause will have a Disney theme, said d’Eon. “Once Upon a Time because everybody has a story.”
To date, the Rosalin Nickerson CARE Fund has helped 364 cancer patients in the Municipality of Barrington and the Town of Clark’s Harbour financially, giving out an estimated $600,000.
