Community Builders: Ride for Dad launch party
With engines revving and hearts full, hundreds of riders are expected to take to the streets of Ottawa on June 7 for the annual Motorcycle Ride for Dad, a fundraising and awareness event focused on the fight against prostate cancer.
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A 25th anniversary launch party for Ottawa's Ride for Dad was held Thursday, May 1, at The Joint inside Rideau Carleton Casino, Future Hard Rock Ottawa, bringing together riders, volunteers and supporters ahead of the ride.
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The event has raised more than $8 million locally since its inception. Proceeds support research and awareness campaigns through the Prostate Cancer Fight Foundation, the charitable arm of Ride for Dad.
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Michael Anderson, Ottawa chapter chair, said the ride is personal for many. Anderson lost his father to the disease in 2021. 'I don't think that anybody should have to go through the pain that my mom's gone through, that my son's gone through, that my wife's gone through, that I've gone through,' he said after speaking about his father's battle. His father went through more than 40 rounds of radiation. He had a glimpse of hope through a moment of remission only for cancer to return in the form of bone cancer.
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For one mother and daughter duo, the ride is both tribute and mission.
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'I didn't even know what prostate cancer was until my husband was diagnosed,' said Suzanne McCann, who lost her husband in December 2014. 'We thought it was an old man's disease.'
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Her daughter, Stephanie Giroux, now the event's logistics coordinator, said this year feels like a milestone.
'It's a celebration of all the work we've done over the years and all the money we've raised and donated for research and awareness,' she said.
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