Walk For Hope raises more than $58,000 for Southeast Cancer Support Services

The second annual Walk For Hope has surpassed last year’s total of $45,000.

Southeast Cancer Support Services (SCSS) executive director Cindi Rempel Patrick said that despite the rain this year, more people came out to this year’s fundraiser compared to 2025.

“There’s over 200 walkers and there’s 100 volunteers and then there’s all their families and friends, so there’s hundreds. And we’re thrilled because it’s raining less than it did last year. And even last year when it poured, people still came out,” she said.

Walk For Hope raised more than $58,000 this year with all money going towards transportation costs associated with driving cancer patients to doctor’s appointments. SCSS serves 88 communities in the Southeast and currently has 105 clients that receive transportation. About 150 survivors walked this year.

“It’s all about hope, you know. If you don’t have hope, you really don’t have anything to look forward to,” said Rempel Patrick.

“And so this is a call to walk for hope and our whole mandate at Southeast Cancer Support Services is about hope…And if you don’t have hope for something positive, then the treatments are your hope. So the fact that we can help people get to their treatments, we find that that’s one of the most powerful forms of hope.”

The Walk For Hope is also about supporting and celebrating survivors and remembering those that were lost. Rempel Patrick has a personal stake in the Walk For Hope as she is a cancer survivor having overcome cervical cancer 12 years ago. She said the walk for her is very meaningful and that unless you’ve gone through cancer you can’t fully explain the feeling of what it means to have it.

“All these people that just walked on their survivor’s lap, they know that feeling and we all share that common bond. And to have such a common bond with people you’ve never met before, it’s really quite extraordinary,” she said.

“And it’s very meaningful for me. It makes us more grateful the fact that we are even here able to walk. And we really, really appreciate that everybody put so much work into honouring these survivors.”

One of the survivors that walked in the fundraiser was Dave Brandt. He was diagnosed with lymphoma five-and-a-half years ago and then went into remission for a year-and-a-half, but the cancer came back and went into his bones and spread to his prostate.

“(The) 20th of December (2019) they gave me a Christmas present. They told me (I) had two months to go and they told me if I went to chemo nine days later then they said they can give me a few more days. So, here I am still going,” said Brandt as he recalled his initial diagnosis.

This is Brandt’s second time at the Walk For Hope as his daughter has been organizing the family to come and support her father on his cancer journey for the past two years.

“All those that are suffering from (cancer), I hope (the proceeds from the walk) helps them out,” said Brandt.

Cancer doesn’t just touch the people who are going through it, it also affects family members. This is the second time Austin Dueck and his family have walked in the Walk For Hope in support of his younger brother Brandon, who is diagnosed with brain cancer.

Dueck’s three-year-old son and six-year-old daughter decided this year they would like to support their uncle by having a lemonade and cookie stand at the walk where people could donate as much as they liked with all the proceeds going to SCSS.

“They wanted to come out here and support their Uncle Brandon, so it’s been awesome…They’re three and six, so for them to have that mindset of helping others, it’s incredible,” said Dueck.

Although Brandon didn’t need to use SCSS services as he had a lot of support from family and friends to get to medical appointments and receive care, Dueck likes that SCSS is providing a vital service to cancer patients in need.

“It’s obviously very hard. I mean, people are going to Winnipeg and if you don’t live close, there’s lots of travel. It’s long days. So, to have that support in place for people is incredible. Yeah, it’s awesome. So, it’s good to see lots of people out here. Obviously, there’s lots of people affected by cancer.”

The cancer survivors and their families were led by bagpiper Heather Purvis and an RCMP honour guard. Purvis, an oncology nurse at Cancer Care Manitoba in Winnipeg, said she has seen firsthand the effects of cancer.

“Cancer’s not a diagnosis of just the patients. Cancer’s a diagnosis of the family and close friends. So, definitely it impacts everybody and everything,” she said, noting although she hasn’t had a family member go through cancer, she has had friends who have had it and some of them have not survived.

She said the transportation service SCSS provides to cancer patients to get to their medical appointments is invaluable as it allows them to focus on healing.

“This has always been a cause that’s very close to my heart…I’ve always had a really soft spot for helping people that are struggling with their cancer diagnosis and all of the things that go with it, emotional, financial, social struggles that many people have when they’re hit with something like this,” she said.

What Rempel Patrick wants people to take away from the annual walk is for those affected by cancer to know that they are not alone. She said everyone has a different cancer journey, but they all have the same experience of knowing what it’s like to get a cancer diagnosis. She said there are many beautiful experiences in a cancer journey, and while some might not survive, no one is ever alone as friends and family experience the journey with them.

“The fact that people get to experience it, whether the outcome is positive or negative, it changes people’s lives. And I think that’s what we want people to recognize and be grateful for – that there’s always meaningful things that come out of these journeys.”