This September marked the 45th anniversary of the Terry Fox Run. More than three million Canadians, from more than 650 communities across the country, participated, celebrating Terry’s enduring legacy and raising funds for life-saving cancer research. To learn more about the Terry Fox Foundation, we spoke with Martha McClew, Chief Operating Officer.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
Inspired by the courage and determination of Terry Fox, the Terry Fox Foundation is a national, charitable organization raising critical funds for groundbreaking cancer research. More than 3.5 million Canadians are expected to participate in a Terry Fox Run, either at school or in their local community, organized by more than 20,000 volunteers.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Canada, and there is much more that needs to be done to accelerate progress in bringing an end to cancer as we know it. Through the Terry Fox Foundation, Terry continues to inspire Canadians to come together to believe in something bigger than ourselves and raise critical funds for life-saving cancer research.
When did you start/join it?
I started working at the Terry Fox Run in 1982 when I was in high school, as a summer job reporting to my sister. The Run was part of the Canadian Cancer Society at the time so it was considered a part-time job for her from April to September. I continued to work summers for the Run through university and came back when I graduated. And, 36 years later, I am still here!
What made you want to get involved?
Terry. I was watching the news on the night he dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean and I quickly noticed three things: 1) he was very cute (I was 14!) 2) he had an exposed artificial limb, which I had never seen and 3) he was attempting something huge by running across our country, which I had just learned was the second biggest in the world.
Even at that age, I was overwhelmed by what he was trying to do to help other people facing cancer, and his complete faith in his own abilities. I started to track his Marathon of Hope to report back at the dinner table every night. When I turned on the news on September 1st, 1980 and heard the news that Terry was forced to stop running, it was the first day in my life that I cried for someone other than my family. I had never met him, yet he had already changed who I was as a person.
What was the situation like when you started?
In the early 1980s, the Terry Fox Run was lifted on an incredible groundswell of emotional support for Terry and his legacy. The Run heralded a new age in fundraising.
It was, and still is, an all-inclusive, non-competitive, family-oriented event with no corporate sponsorship, incentives or fees to participate. It set the standard for the fun runs that occur in thousands of communities across Canada all year long. It also attracted many competitors, starting in the 1990s and 2000s, making the fundraising landscape more challenging and competitive, especially with our specific set of guidelines around commercialization. And yet the Run endured, continuing to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in communities and schools, urban and rural, big and small, because Canadians had made a promise to Terry to finish what he started.
How has it changed since?
I have never seen the Run, and the Foundation, in such a strong position in terms of fundraising, profile, popularity, and impact on cancer research as now. We are attracting strategic and innovative staff, who in turn are finding and coaching a creative and energetic 20,000-strong volunteer base who motivate and inspire more than 3.6 million participants at over 11,000 fundraising events.
Canadians have taken their personal passion for Terry and turned it into a relentless effort to fund cancer research so that we can do what Terry asked of us: to finish what he started. To end the suffering cancer causes. We had seen the best in him during the summer of 1980, and in tur,n he had seen the best in us. The Terry Fox Run was his gift to us, one he gave knowing that we would never let him down. With one billion in reach, we have honoured everything he asked of us. I believe he would be so proud – but not surprised. He believed in us just like we believed in him. We will finish it together.
What more needs to be done?
While we’ve made remarkable strides in cancer research since Terry’s diagnosis more than 45 years ago, there is still much more that needs to be done to realize Terry’s dream of a world without cancer. Terry’s ability to unite us all through his bold vision, his relentless courage and determination, is the driving force behind the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network, which brings together Canada’s brightest scientific minds in an unprecedented collaboration for the benefit of cancer patients. Terry truly believed in the power of research, and it’s up to all of us to continue carrying this forward.
How can our readers help?
There are a number of ways to get involved and help make a difference! Readers can participate or organize a Terry Fox Run, donate directly to the Foundation, volunteer at local events and rally your local community or workplace for fundraising initiatives. Every action, whether big or small, brings us one step closer to finishing the work Terry started.
Do you have any events coming?
Absolutely! While our 45th annual Terry Fox Run in support of cancer research took place earlier this month across more than 650 communities across Canada, we have many exciting developments in the works. In Toronto next month, we’ll be screening Run Terry Run, a feature-length documentary directed and produced by filmmaker Sean Menard with never-before-seen footage of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope journey. You can visit this website for more information and to purchase tickets.
Where can we follow you?
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram or visit our website to follow along with upcoming announcements, events, and so much more.
