This 2023-2024 year, our District Governor’s project was to raise money for Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer (NOFCC). Each year, the District Governor chooses a project that they ask the clubs in the district to contribute to. The NOFCC began in 1998 after several bereaved families in the Sudbury area started the group to help others like them that had to deal with the many issues in having a child out of town for treatment and still trying to maintain home, work and other family members. The NOFCC provides financial assistance as well as providing emotional support to these families of children with cancer.
In 2000, the NOFCC began fundraising activities to provide financial assistance to families as well as providing them with emotional support. Although this started as a Sudbury and area program, it has expanded their support to assist families throughout Northern Ontario. Even though it is hard to raise money for such a large area, past President Lorraine Chartier, would remind the group that “it would be too difficult for smaller communities to raise money due to their size. She would also remind them that families living in Northern Ontario had to deal with challenges that families living in Southern Ontario didn’t have and that northerners had to stick together as one community”. This group receives no government or hospital support and relies solely on fundraising and donations.
District Governor (DG) David Kidd, is a member of Lions Club of Sault Ste. Marie. This past year, he asked the 52 clubs and 1100 members in District A-5, from White River to Moosonee and Mattawa to Trout Creek, to please help him with his project. Normally the DG’s project will raise about $20,000.00. However this year, the project took on a life of it’s own. How many of us have not been touched by cancer and how many of those were children. This fueled the Lions to raise a whopping $53,000.00 plus, the largest DG project in A5’s history. (since the date of the presentation, more funds have been added)
As said by DG David Kidd, “Wow. Awesome, Talk about reaching out. You couldn’t ask for more. It’s helping everybody, It’s not just your city.” Thank you to DG Lion David Kidd for bringing this our District and raising more awareness for the group and Lions. Great Work A5.
Pictures: representatives from NOFCC, A5 Childhood Cancer chair Lion Jeanne Lachance, DG Lion David Kidd
