Thank you so much for your support of The Smiling Blue Skies Cancer Fund and The Smiling Blue Skies Fund for Innovative Cancer Research. It is hard to believe that Smiling Blue Skies is nearly 18 years old. More than 1,000 people have donated more than $25!!! This year alone, we have raised more than $70,000, bringing our grand total to more than $1.8 million! Thank you to all of our volunteers across the country and beyond; you are the heroes that fuel the Hope and Promise, that one day, we will live in a world without cancer.
From “Talia’s Magnets” to “Sydney’s Lemonade Stand,” to 16 years of walks in Calgary, to Maritime obedience and rally trials, to Capital Comets annual raffles and barbecues, to a “sociable” evening with Pat Hewitt, to “Malak and Friends” art events, to “Kindred Spirits” Candles for a Cause, and so much more, people from all ages have come together to raise funds, supporting OVC Pet Trust’s quest to find more and better ways to deal with and understand the complex and devastating disease of cancer.
It is really amazing, when we stop and think about it, that the OVC Health Sciences Centre at the Ontario Veterinary College is one of two Canadian veterinary school included in the Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium, which is part of the National Cancer Institute, a network of 20 academic veterinary oncology centres. Their second collaboration was launched in March of this year.
Today, you are helping to fund canine oncology studies in a variety of areas, including Osteosarcoma, Lymphoma, Soft Tissue Sarcoma, and Acute Myeloid Leukemia. We are also happy to report, that we are continuing to support the Clinical Trials Coordinator Position within OVC’s Health Sciences Centre and the Tissue and Tumour Bank Coordinator’s position too, until the end of 2020 (and hopefully, beyond). Your commitment to Smiling Blue Skies enables the coordinators to continue to obtain valuable samples for future research, promote clinical trials, and recruit patients for studies that will one day change the face of cancer, for all of us.
Back in the spring of 2001, Smiling Blue Skies began as a one page memorial on the “world wide web.” Over the years, the site grew and grew, until we had to think about the development of a new site that would embrace our changing world on social media, so even though the official launch hasn’t taken place yet, we invite you to take a look at the new Smiling Blue Skies website, and share your thoughts with us, because it is you, our heroes, that make everything possible.
Please be on the look-out for our next Annual Update in the spring, so you can read about all the things we have been up to in the past year!
We are all kindred spirits. Together, we can stretch our wings and soar, reaching beyond the bluest skies and the brightest of stars, to take a bite out of cancer, on behalf of the precious pets and people in our lives. Long live blue skies, where HOPE is a kite and dreams really do come true.
Here’s to you, the ones who make everything possible! Wishing you the very best this holiday season and in the coming new year.
Yours truly,
Dr. Suzi Beber, honouris causa
Founder, Smiling Blue Skies