The Ride to Survive helps with cancer care at Erie Shores HealthCare
September 28, 2021
The Ride to Survive originally took place in 2003, with subsequent events in 2004 and 2005. Co-organizer Dave Hunter says that they then took a break. “It sat dormant for 15 years,” he said. “We were contacted by Amber Hunter (no relation) last year and decided to resurrect it.”
Dave Hunter said the ride was able to raise $184,000 for Transition to Betterness last year and that prompted them to return again this year. Transition to Betterness formed a partnership with Erie Shores Health Foundation going into this year’s ride and Dave Hunter looked at is as a welcome addition.
“It’s a new opportunity for us,” he said. “Having Erie Shores be part of it is pretty important. I’ve lost friends and relatives to cancer.” The partnership between Erie Shores HealthCare and Transition to Betterness will benefit a special
project at Erie Shores called Partners in Cancer Comfort. This year’s ride raised $192,000 for T2B, which will be ear marked for the Erie Shores project.
“It’s a beautiful thing to be able to bring services to Leamington so people don’t have to travel to get them done,” he said. He credits Transition to Betterness with having been a champion in the community with a lot of the things they
have done. “We are unbelievably grateful to announce the total funds raised was an outstanding $192,000,” said
Amber Hunter, Executive Director of Transition to Betterness. “We will be partnering with Erie Shores Health
Foundation to collaborate on a great project to refurbish a room where patients can receive chemotherapy
closer to home in Essex County.
Along with having a comfortable and beautiful space to receive treatment, we are also going to offer the much
needed Dr. Michelle Prince Comfort Care tote Program for patients.”
Over 100 people took part in the Ride to Survive on Saturday, September 18 and Sunday, September 19.
The original group rode from Malden Park in Windsor to Lakeshore and then south to Leamington, where they
spent the night before trekking to Point Pelee Sunday morning. The rest of the riders joined them at Point Pelee’s
Northwest Beach and they rode from there to Harrow and back to Windsor. The official length of the ride was
100 kilometres, but the original group actually rode 200 kilometres with their Saturday ride.
We are very excited to partner with T2B in enhancing cancer care at Erie Shores HealthCare through the launch of a new chemotherapy program that will provide services to residents in Essex County,” says Erie Shores Health Foundation CEO Christine Colautti. “In doing so, we will be able to provide compassionate care close to home to patients.” Colautti also conveyed her thanks to Transition to Betterness. “On behalf of the foundation, we look forward to working with T2B in support of this life changing program along with offering T2B’s Dr. Michelle Prince Comfort Tote Program for the community,” she said.
All agreed that the event wouldn’t be possible without the support of their sponsors, which included title sponsors, The Stephanie and Barry Zekelman Foundation, Universal Health Products (FA Investments), Lisa and Brian Schwab Foundation and the Alan Quesnel Family Foundation, media sponsors The Drive Magazine, CTV and AM800. An additional thanks goes out to the Olafson family for their generous donation of $32,000.
