From the Terry Fox dedicated bulletin board in the Athletics wing, to Tuesday’s “Toonies for Terry” house shirt fundraiser, it is clear that the legacy Terry began continues to resonate thirty-two years after he first struck pavement on the Marathon of Hope.
Mulgrave alumnus Morgan Lunn (graduating class 2009) grew up participating in the annual run, and as a senior student at University of Western Ontario, she decided that this would be the year to change things up a bit. If organizing the largest Post-Secondary Terry Fox Run wasn’t enough of an undertaking, Lunn and her roommate, Tori Stone, came up with a fundraising initiative that would push them to not only better understand Terry Fox’s journey through the Marathon of Hope, but also to show their support to those affected by cancer.
Setting a goal of raising 3000 dollars by running 1000 kilometres between May and September, the duo began logging their runs while sharing their fundraising objectives with friends and family. Despite a slow start on the fundraising front, Lunn and Stone’s initiative sparked the interest of media outlets, and soon the girls found themselves landing an article in the Globe and Mail. “After the Globe (and Mail) article, things really started to take off”, Lunn said in a telephone interview last week, “We received $700 from an anonymous donor, and that quickly led us to doubling our goal”.
On September 16th, Lunn crossed the 1000km mark, completing the Terry Fox Run and her goal set out in May. Her efforts, however, are far from over. “All people, from all different backgrounds, are linked by cancer, and I am okay with changing this,” she reflects, and it is not hard to tell that she is humbled by the opportunity to advocate for cancer patients and share in Terry’s legacy.
At 11:00 this morning, Mulgrave School students, staff and faculty laced up their runners and in doing so, they also became a part of the Marathon of Hope.
If you would like to learn more about Morgan Lunn’s 1000km run, or to donate, please visit the 1000km Closer to a Cure website, or LIKE 1000km Closer to a Cure on Facebook, and thank you for your continued support in eradicating cancer.
Chloe Scott
Communications