Carman Collegiate chocolate moustache fundraiser nearing $15K goal
It’s another extremely successful year of chocolate moustache sales for Carman Collegiate.
For the fourth year in a row, Carman Collegiate principal Mary Reimer will spend October and November making thousands of chocolate moustaches to support Boundary Trails Health Centre’s cancer efforts.
Reimer began the fundraiser in 2021 after a friend and colleague was diagnosed with cancer. After making and selling the chocolate moustaches for just two weeks, she had fundraised just over $1,500 for CancerCare Manitoba. Fast forward to August 2022, and Reimer herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. While going through chemotherapy in October (breast cancer awareness month), she started making the moustaches again — this time for Boundary Trails Health Centre, where she was receiving her treatment. After selling them for two months, she generated $8,300.
“Having chemo at Boundary, I got to know the staff there. They normalize all the ugly emotions that come with diagnosis. You don’t have to go there with a fake smile on your face and you don’t have to pretend you’re doing great,” said Reimer. “They recognize anger and grief, and all those really ugly emotions are a part of the disease. I’ve never felt that I had to offer a response for their benefit, and they made sure I knew they’re there for my benefit.”
Last year, Reimer’s chocolate moustache fundraiser generated $18,200 for the cause. This year, she set a goal $15,000, and is hoping to beat it by just $1. The OMG Candy Company donated hundreds of pounds of chocolate for Reimer to use again this year, along with a limited supply of their secret recipe mixture, which sold out almost as soon as she posted about it. The Prices Rite in Carman sold all the supplies Reimer needed at cost, too, and Reimer said without the generosity of the businesses, the fundraising campaign wouldn’t be possible.
Standard Photos by Mattheiu Meier
It’s projected one in two men and one in three women will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the world, with 10 million people dying from it each year. According to World Cancer Day, 30 percent of cancer-related deaths could be prevented through screening and early detection.
“We hear so often that we have a healthcare system with long wait times,” she said. “I often hear how unresponsive our healthcare system is and then I remind myself they’re lucky they have an unresponsive system because it means they don’t have a cancer diagnosis.”
Reimer received her initial diagnosis on Aug. 30, 2022, and underwent surgery on Sept. 19 of that same year. She still receives chemotherapy at Boundary Trails Health Centre, goes for CT scans and bone scans every six months, and takes medications that are doing what they should be. Reimer’s doctors are seeing stability, which is good news.
She said Boundary Trails Health Centre has been her lifeline these past few years— literally and figuratively.
“In a place where you would expect to be depressed and grim, their joy is infectious,” she said. “You hear laughter when there’s so many reasons to cry. It’s a place where I’ve learned courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyways. You would assume it’s sad but it’s surprising how warm and inviting and welcoming it really is.”
One chocolate moustache costs $2, and all proceeds go to cancer support at Boundary Trails Health Centre. The moustaches come in dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, Skor, Reese’s Pieces, peppermint bark, cookies and cream, and candy cane. People can order by contacting Carman Collegiate or Reimer directly at mreimer@g.prsdmb.ca or through her Facebook account. The fundraiser will go until the end of November. As of last week, sales had reached more than $13,500.
Students at Carman Collegiate have been working hard to help with the fundraiser, making posters, spreading the word, assisting Reimer make the chocolates, and doing whatever they can.
“It just shows that the kids at the school are really taking ownership of the fundraiser and it’s setting them up to learn that altruism is a necessary component of living well,” said Reimer. “I’ve just seen the very best in so many situations and I always remind myself that’s the one thing cancer will never ever destroy is the goodness in humanity.”
