Terry Fox’s brother Fred makes a special visit to Heroes’ Memorial
What a special day it was on Wednesday morning. A sea of red T-shirts, Heroes’ Memorial’s colours, filled the school gymnasium. At the front of the gym was a large painting of Terry Fox. Mrs. Barr had her choir and dancers in place and entering the gym was Fred Fox, Terry’s older brother, and Lynne Marie Mathieu from the Quebec branch of the Terry Fox Foundation. Fred was wearing the new T-shirt for the 2018 run.
Before the assembly Fred and Lynne had toured the school to see Terry’s face in a mural on the wall in the hallway and to look at previous years’ Terry Fox run photos, including one with Terry’s mom, Betty Fox, who had visited the school in 1998. They even saw the Terry Fox trophy that is presented each year to a student who exhibits Terry’s tenacity. They could see that the spirit of Terry was part of the school culture.
Back in the gym, Fred shared photos of growing up with Terry and background stories to help to explain Terry’s determination to do something to make a difference when it comes to the battle against cancer. He ended by repeating Terry’s phrase, “Even if I have to stop, someone has to continue. Never give up.”
The students in Heroes’ Memorial every year surpass expectations with the thousands of dollars raised in the September run. Next September Lynne Marie Mathieu has said that she will return for Heroes’ run.
At the assembly the top four students
David Villeneuve is standing with the top fundraisers for this year, Cordell Johnson, Jake Blinn, Sarah Jette, and Joshua-preston Burns. Also in the picture are Liane Flynn and Fred Fox. who brought in funds were honoured with Terry Fox T-shirts. In cycle one it was Sarah Jette, in cycle two it was Jake Blinn, and in cycle three it was Cordell Johnson. The student who brought in the most funds was Joshua-preston Burns who brought in $247.10.
Liane Flynn was presented a book about Terry Fox and Joshua Warner accepted a book to be placed in the school library. Two students who raised funds Fred Fox, Terry’s older brother, and Lynne Marie Mathieu from the Terry Fox Foundation made a special visit to Heroes’ Memorial. at the pre-christmas sale last November, Mischa Lacroix and Lorianne Charette, gave the money to Fred Fox. Morgan Gatien and Tristan Holmes accepted a 25year banner to recognize the 25 years that runs have happened at the school.
The assembly ended with a song that was sung by all and then a group photo was taken. It was a day that all in the room would never forget.
A Selfless Act
It’s National Volunteer Week. Volunteering is often seen as a selfless act; a person gives their time, skills, experience and passion to help others, without expecting anything in return.
One hundred and fifty volunteers are part of L’équipe d’accompagnement Au Diapason. One hundred and fifty selfless human beings who take time each and every week to ensure that Au Diapason’s mission is carried forward. Some volunteer in the kitchen, at the reception desk or by doing indoor and outdoor maintenance at La Maison Au Diapason in Bromont while others are trained to help the nursing staff assist with the care and comfort of patients.
The outreach of their work goes even further. A big part of our team is trained to offer emotional, spiritual and psychological support. This support is not only offered to patients in palliative care and their loved ones at La Maison Au Diapason but also on the oncology unit at Brome-missisquoi-perkins Hospital in Cowansville and at the Hôpital de Granby. Their role is to offer attentive listening and a comforting presence to help patients and families at different stages of the disease.
L’équipe d’accompagnement Au Diapason takes it one step further by offering bereavement support, either in groups or individually, in both English and French to adults as well as children. All services offered by Au Diapason are free to residents of the Brome-missisquoi and Hauteyamaska communities. Needless to say that we are eternally grateful to our volunteers without whom this would never be possible. There is no bigger or better word than selfless to describe the people who offer their support to our community in the way the volunteers of Au Diapason do. There should be, but for lack of a better word… thank you to our SELFLESS heroes, our team of dedicated volunteers! For more information on
Au Diapason, visit www.audiapason.org.