There were two nonprofit organizations that were very dear to Helen Hopkins heart the St. Josephs School of Nursing in Victoria where she graduated from back in 1963 and the Terry Fox Foundation.
Although Helen loved to donate to many charities over the years, these two were very important to her, said her husband of 49 years, who lost Helen to cancer on Jan. 26, 2012. She was a quiet person who didnt push charity but she supported many of them.
With tears in his eyes, the longtime Richmond resident spoke lovingly about his wife and the foundation. Helen died of liver and breast cancer, although shed conquered Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which she was diagnosed with in 2003 and ocular melanoma in 2009.
She was such a fighter and had a wonderful spirit, added Hopkins.
The couple began taking part in the Terry Fox runs more than a decade ago.
We did it just about every year in Richmond, he added.
However, two years ago Hopkins began volunteering as well.
In 2010, I met John Young (the organizer of the Richmond run), when we both volunteered at the Oval during the Olympics, he said. John asked me if I wanted to volunteer.
The 71-year-old went on to say that Helen was drawn to the Terry Fox Foundation for many reasons.
She saw Fox as a national hero, and liked that his foundation had no fee to take part in the run, no minimum donation to raise and that it kept Canada connected to a local hero, he said. Helen took part in the 2010 run and raised the second most amount of money for an individual that year.
She pushed herself to walk to the finish line.
At this years fundraising event, Hopkins is the captain in charge of four posts the water station, First Aid, safety and traffic control.
My son, John and his wife Dovelle, and my two grandsons Aidan, five, and Liam, eight, will all take part in the run, said Hopkins.
Meanwhile, Young encourages everyone in Richmond to come out and get involved.
Even if you cant walk or run, come out to support this great cause and have fun, said Young, adding the run is all manned by volunteers. This is truly a real community event. There are no pre-registration fees and 85 per cent of all donations received go directly to cancer research.
Last year, more than 750 participants came out and raised more than $25,000.
This wasnt our best year but it certainly was one of our better years, added Young.
This year, Donna White, the provincial director for the BC/Yukon Terry Fox Foundation, will be the guest speaker at the event.
We will have lots of free food and water as well as entertainment, said Young. We also sell T-shirts and sweatshirts, with proceeds going to the foundation.
The 10th annual Richmond 2012 Terry Fox Run happens on Sunday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m. at Garry Point Park. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the run/walk/cycle begins at 10 a.m. There are one, five and 10 km. routes Everyone is welcome, strollers and dog on leashes too.
For more information, visit www.terryfox.org/Run/.
