If you think it’s a long way to drive a car from Toronto to Montreal, try doing it on a bicycle!
That’s exactly what a team of 28 amateur cyclists from Montreal-based Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada did raising over $100,000 for the breast cancer cause. Over four days they pedaled the 600 kms from Toronto to Montreal to raise funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation through the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. A second group composed of 18 other cyclists joined them at the Ontario-Quebec border. In total 46 courageous riders completed the trip at 2 p.m. on September 23, 2008 at the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada headquarters where they were greeted by their fellow employees. The riders presented their proceeds to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation upon the completion of the ride.
Several participants in the “Ride for the Cure” raised up to $2,000 for the cause before their journey began. Along with donations they were received en route, they have raised $111,233 for the breast cancer cause.
The first group of cyclists rode between 115 and 200 kms each day. They left from the CN Tower in Toronto on Saturday morning, Sept. 20, and made their way to Montreal along highway #2, stopping overnight in Cobourg, Kingston and, the last night in Cornwall.
“The ride has been an amazing experience, said Jane Hladky, a Senior Specialty Sales Consultant for Novartis in Edmonton, Alberta. “My mother died of breast cancer so it is very moving for me to do this event in her memory and to raise money for the further research needed to fight this terrible disease.” She has four children, three of them girls, and desperately wants to protect them from this disease. Jane raised more than $3,000 from colleagues, friends and family to contribute to the cause.
“I and all of us at Novartis are immensely proud of the effort of our colleagues on the ‘Ride for the Cure’,” said David Meek, President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada. “They are proof of our employees’ commitment to their community and to the cause of cancer research.”
The “Ride for the Cure” effort was created by a group of Novartis employees to increase the company’s fundraising efforts for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. In 2007, Novartis was the top fundraising organization for the Montreal Run for the Cure, largely because of the “Ride for the Cure” effort. Hundreds of Novartis employees, friends and family participated in last year’s Montreal Run for the Cure, as well as at various other Run for the Cure events across the country where groups of field-based employees gathered.