Posted on 3rd September, 2021
Source: Drew McLaughlin for the BC Cancer Foundation
Together, since 2016, GolfBC Group and the GolfBC Championship, with the support of Chan Family Foundation, have raised over $500,000 for our community, which is enabling BC Cancer to innovate treatment solutions and advance research. From the generosity of members of the community, to clubs like Gallagher’s Canyon that host fundraising events, and to sponsors and donors, we are changing cancer outcomes together.
To the GolfBC Championship, in 2021 we say Welcome Back!
Much like the golf world, the pandemic forced unprecedented pivots for clinicians and researchers and introduced many new challenges for patients and families. Throughout it all, sponsors and donors were there to fund critical patient support services and ensure life-saving research continued to improve cancer outcomes.
We are incredibly humbled by those who rallied together to show BC Cancer experts that we all believe in their vital work and BC Cancer patients, that they are not alone. With the funds raised by the GolfBC Championship and from Chan Family Foundation, we’ve achieved remarkable milestones that will further our mission to bring hope to patients and families.
On behalf of the BC Cancer Foundation and BC Cancer, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for supporting cancer patients and their families in the community and beyond. Funds from the GolfBC Championship have supported the work happening across the province and specifically at BC Cancer - Kelowna, which serves Interior communities and offers patients access to assessment and diagnostic services, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and supportive care.
Some key areas of impact include:
Kelowna PET/CT Scanner:
Funds helped bring a PET/CT scanner, the best in cancer diagnostics, to BC Cancer - Kelowna, which supports thousands of patients per year who previously had to travel to Vancouver for this critical scan. In August 2020, the project came to completion, and since then the Kelowna PET/CT Scanner, has completed close to 2,400 scans in it’s first year alone. A PET/CT Scanner is a critical component of enhanced cancer care. It delivers precise images of abnormal or cancerous cells. These images can help physicians diagnose cancer at an early stage or evaluate the effectiveness of treatments by determining if a patient’s cancer tumours have shrunk, spread or returned.
Hereditary Cancer Program:
Funds have also supported the Hereditary Cancer Program (HCP), which provides hereditary cancer genetic counseling and testing to individuals and families across B.C. and Yukon. Identifying hereditary cancer risk empowers individuals and families to stop cancer before it starts, with swift and effective prevention strategies. Donations are supporting the HCP program to:
- improve patient access to genetic testing by decreasing wait times with large group genetic counselling;
- improve identification of patients and families with hereditary cancer who otherwise would not have been eligible for HCP-funded testing;
- expand HCP-funded testing criteria to include unaffected individuals at high risk of hereditary cancer;
- expand HCP outreach across B.C., including large group counselling sessions in Kelowna, Nanaimo and Victoria;
- establish infrastructure for virtual group genetic counselling to decrease wait times and increase genetic testing across BC;
- develop automated digital genetic counselling and genetic testing tools including a web-based portal, animated education video, and chatbot
BC Cancer experts are at the helm of cancer research and care innovation. With community partners like GolfBC Group, and events like the GolfBC Championship, BC Cancer researchers are developing breakthroughs that are elevating the global understanding of cancer, transforming care and saving more lives.
You fuel this progress.
With Gratitude,
BC Cancer Foundation
