Spot of tea helps fight cancer
By Chris Simon

Photo by Chris Simon Organizers of the Canadian Cancer Society's annual tea at The Wheel in Sandy Cove Acres pose for a picture during the event recently.

They sipped and chatted for a good cause.

About 100 people attended the Canadian Cancer Society's annual tea at The Wheel in Sandy Cove Acres recently. Participants were treated to sweets, a drink, music from The Glee Club and a video on new cancer cures and research. The event is the society's local kick-off for their annual Daffodil Days fundraising campaign, said Lillian Owen, president of the organization's Innisfil branch.

"We decided to have a tea in Sandy Cove because we knew a lot of people can not get out. It's for the whole community, but we're targeting the Sandy Cove residents; they support it totally," she said. "We're using this time to launch April, the month we do our canvassing. It's a way of selling our flowers."

Daffodil Days first took place in the 1950s, when a group of Toronto-based society volunteers held a fundraising tea and decorated tables with the flower. Soon, the idea spread to other restaurants in the city, eventually leading to the sale of flowers on the streets of Toronto.

Earlier this month, volunteers appeared at several local businesses, asking residents to purchase yellow daffodils, the society's symbol of hope. The money raised will be allocated towards cancer research.

Last year, nearly $3 million way raised through the campaign in Ontario.

Although the Relay for Life is a larger fundraiser, Daffodil Days helps raise awareness of the necessity of donating to cancer research, said Owen.

"The campaign is about awareness; we want people to be aware," she said.

Others agree. In 1940, one in four people diagnosed with cancer survived the disease. By contrast, about 60 per cent of people diagnosed now survive, said society volunteer development coordinator Natalie Beaudet.

"There's a lot of misconceptions about cancer, and how far research has gone, and that radiation and chemotherapy are behind the times," she said.

"This gives them the idea of the progress currently being made, what kind of research is being done, and who's working on it."

For more information, visit www.cancer.ca.