Anything that brings attention to South Central Cancer Resource is welcome, especially if it may bring them more support, so representatives were pleased to learn of the organization receiving the Morden Chamber of Commerce’s Community Builder Award for non-profits at the business awards gala.
“We’re thrilled,” said administrative resources co-ordinator Leora Hamm. “We’ve been in the community here, in the Morden community, for just over 20 years actually. To be recognized this way is just really special. It just shows that we are valued by the community, and we just really appreciate it.”
She does believe recognition like this can help raise awareness of who they are and what they do and especially in terms of how they are funded.
“One of our goals over the last two or three years or so has been to really change people’s perception of South Central Cancer Resource,” Hamm said. “Many people are under the perception that we are government funded or funded in part by CancerCare Manitoba or even the Canadian Cancer Society, and we’re not. We are completely self sufficient just from donations.
“It’s always a frustration for us,” she continued. “As much as we work in partnership with CancerCare at Boundary Trails, we’re not funded by them. So this type of award gets our name out there a little bit more and gives us an opportunity to explain at the gala and just reiterate to the folks there in the business community that we are not funded by anybody other than themselves and the local community.”
They provide a broad range of services to a large catchment area with a population of about 65,000. It stretches from Emerson up to Morris and over to Carman and out west as far Cartwright and the RM of Roblin and everything in that area down to the U.S. border.
Perhaps one of the most vital services is that clients have access to about 80 volunteer drivers who will provide free rides to things like hospital appointments.
“They will pick you up at home and drive you to your appointment, wherever that may be, wait for you and bring you back home again, and there’s no cost to the cancer patient,” Hamm explained.
“Then we also support you if you have your own driver … you submit your mileage to us, and we will cover the cost of your fuel,” she said, adding as well that there can be some financial support, say for family members to stay overnight in the city if needed. “We get much better rates at the Canad Inn at Health Sciences Centre.”
Among the other services as well is a skin screening clinic held locally twice a year.
“We have a dermatologist who comes to this area specifically,” said Hamm. “She finds quite a bit of cancer, skin melanomas here in this area.”
Other offerings range from providing radon testing kits to a new wellness program.
Hamm noted they are always looking for more financial support.
“We are always looking for donors,” she said. “One of the things that we really love is when people get invested themselves and want to put fundraisers on for us … we do have quite a bit of third-party fundraisers.”
