CAUSES & CHALLENGES
Inspiring hope for Vancouver Island's children with life-threatening conditions. Over the years, more than 2,100 children have realized their dreams, but there are many more that need support.
CHALLENGE:
March 31-April 1, 2012 — Rink of Dreams: 24hr Hockey Tournament
Location: Victoria BC, Canada
Lee-Anne and Kara participated in a 24hr hockey tournament for kids facing life-threatening illnesses. It. Was. Awesome. We still don't know how to get in and out of the gear without falling over while we jersey each other. Kara probably set a world record for how many times a player has bailed in a game.
Dedicated to being a leader in finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis and enabling people affected by MS to enhance their quality of life. Approximately 100,000 Canadians are living with MS.
CHALLENGE:
September 9, 2012 — 12km Rona MS Bike Tour
Location: Kamloops BC, Canada
Sounds easy enough, buuuut Kara didn't know how to ride a bike. Yes, you read that right. Lee-Anne will taught her so they could complete the ride in Kara's hometown, where she should have learned in the first place. We're talking training wheels and that moment that happens in slow motion when you let go and your child rides away... except it was Lee-Anne's proud moment and Kara was 26. Oh yeah, and we both have Multiple Sclerosis. Piece of cake.
Committed to improving the lives of every person with T1D and to curing this disease.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that happens when the immune system attacks and destroys the body's insulin-producing cells.
CHALLENGE:
September 14-23, 2012 — Great Wall of China Trek
Location: China
We don't mess around. There are young people out there fighting this disease, having to monitor insulin levels, deal with injections, and manage their sugar budget while other children count pennies from their piggy banks. If people can face that every day, we knew we could face The Great Wall.
To beat Cystic Fibrosis and make a daily difference in the lives of those with the disease. Each week, five babies are born with CF. Each week, two young lives are lost to CF.
CHALLENGE:
September 27, 2012 — Skydiving
Location: London, England
In life we must face our fears; sometimes we choose to and sometimes we have no choice. When you are diagnosed with an illness you must wake up each morning, stare it right in the face, and decide you will not be afraid of it. So, two girls with MS and one awesome dude with CF leapt from a plane over London. If we're going to let anything frighten us in this life, it's going to be the fun stuff.
Dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's today. There are 60,000 new diagnoses of Parkinson's in the US alone per year.
CHALLENGE:
November 4, 2012 — New York City Marathon
Location: New York City, NY, USA
We were so honoured to have the opportunity to not only run/hobble/crawl to the finish line on this team, but to do it alongside runners actually living with Parkinson's. Unfortunately, things didn't exactly go according to plan (ahem... Hurricane Sandy).