This is not the message I was expecting to send this year. I was going to remind you how my father passed away from colorectal cancer in 2005. How my sister in law is a cancer survivor. How advances in cancer screening and therapy have made a huge difference in the odds of people like them surviving for longer.
Instead my message is that my wife Grace was just diagnosed with breast cancer on Friday. Its an uncomfortable time, as we dont yet fully know what treatment will look like. But we do know it will not be easy.
Fortunately we also know that BC is one of the best places in the world to be treated for cancer. If we had to choose a place for this to happen it would be here. This is a direct result of funding that the BC Cancer Foundation receives from donors like yourselves. Which brings me to the part of my message that is the same.
Please be generous in your giving, as you have in the past. It truly does make a difference in our communities and it will make a difference to our family. Thank you so much from my family and all families who have, and will, go through this.
Jay