Prince Charles Relay for Life

Jeff Green | Jun 15, 2016

Prince Charles Public School in Verona held their 8th annual Relay for Life fund-raising event last Friday, June 10, under the brilliant late spring sunshine.

Cam Whalen, who co-ordinates student relay events for the Canadian Cancer Society in eastern Ontario, was on hand for the opening of the event.

He said that Prince Charles is one of only two elementary schools in the entire region that holds an event, along with Winston Churchill in Kingston.

He told the students that over eight years they have raised over $15,000 to go towards cancer research.

“While it takes millions to find a cure, sometimes small grants have big results,” he said, and talked about a new treatment that will soon be available that uses a virus that eats cancer cells but is benign otherwise.

“The original grant for that project was for $25,000,” he said, “so the money you have raised really does lead to cures.”

Prince Charles principal, Peter Dendy, said that at the kickoff assembly for relay this year, before the pledge sheets were handed out and students were told how to go about getting sponsors, he asked the students to raise their hands if they knew of anyone in their family who had been affected by cancer.

“Ninety-five percent of you raised your hands,” he told the students, “so you all know what this is about.”

Before the students started to walk around the school’s track for the afternoon, a Survivors’ lap was completed by Joyce Dendy, Peter's mother, and Doug McIntyre, who is a very popular crossing guard at Prince Charles.

The students all joined in after the first lap. Over 100 students participated in the rally.

The tally of the amount raised has not been completed yet, but will be available within a week.