Beverly Thomson, CTV'S Co-Host of Canada AM, Wins Voice of the Foundation
Award at the 3rd Annual Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region
Volunteer Awards Ceremony

TORONTO, April 18 /CNW/ - Beverly Thomson, popular Co-host of CTV's Canada AM, received the Voice of the Foundation Award at the 3rd Annual Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region Volunteer Awards Ceremony which took place earlier today, Sunday, April 18th, in Toronto.

The Voice of the Foundation Award was one of 11 awards granted to Foundation volunteers at this year's event. Every year, thousands of volunteers from across the province make extraordinary contributions to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region and its cause, donating more than 200 thousand hours to the organization. That is why, every year, the Foundation celebrates all its volunteers, selecting a few to receive special recognition for going above and beyond the call.

    
    Voice of the Foundation
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This award is given to an outstanding volunteer speaker who represents the Foundation and shares its message with others. Beverly Thomson has served as Honorary Chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region since 2003. As the Co-host of CTV's Canada AM, she has a natural gift for communicating and connecting, and she's used this gift to take her personal experience with breast cancer public. Following the successful completion of her own breast cancer treatment, and with her profile as an accomplished broadcast journalist, Beverly has helped raise awareness about the disease and share her message of inspiration and support with others.

The mother of two teenagers, Beverly's commitment is found in her repeated willingness to represent the Foundation at external events, and her willingness to share her name and fame to help draw attention to the Foundation's cause and efforts. She demonstrates passion, initiative, creativity, humour, and team spirit in every project she takes on, every message she delivers on behalf of the Foundation. She is the Voice of the Foundation. And she was also the perfect emcee for this afternoon's event - the 3rd Annual Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region Volunteer Awards Ceremony.

    
    Other Award Winners from the GTA
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The Corporate Commitment Award, presented to a for-profit organization that has fostered an environment of volunteerism within the workplace for the benefit of the Foundation, was given to 98.1 CHFI. Since they joined the Run in 2004, Team 98.1 CHFI has raised almost $389,000 at the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure and won the Run's Top Corporate Team Award competition four times. The 98.1 CHFI Run Team now includes over 300 participants. The Foundation has the 98.1 CHFI General Manager and Program Director Julie Adam, Promotions Co-ordinator Jackie Gilgannon, and - as the 98.1 CHFI Team Run Captain - morning host Erin Davis to thank for that.

The Outstanding Volunteer Award is given to volunteers each year who are identified by Foundation staff to have shown a tremendous commitment to the Foundation's mission, vision, and values. One winner, Jean-Alain Raynal from North York, a cancer survivor with a "can-do" attitude, joined the Foundation's team of office volunteers and quickly became a welcome partner to the staff. His personal claim to fame - creating the 2008 Wall of Hope for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure, a project he describes as "an incredible experience."

After her successful treatment for breast cancer, Rachael Smith and her husband Andrew Howard, also winners of the Outstanding Volunteer Award, decided it was time to clean out their basement. Their plan to host their own fundraising yard sale in their Beaches neighbourhood quickly became a community-wide event, then province wide and beyond. Within five years the Yard Sale for the Cure had raised $650,000 for breast cancer research and education. Now managed by the Foundation, with the support of Smith and Howard, the Yard Sale for the Cure continues to build community for a vitally important cause - creating a future without breast cancer.

    
    All Outstanding Volunteers
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The Foundation was started in 1986 by a group of volunteers and it remains a volunteer-led organization. The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure, the Foundation's signature event, is the largest, single-day, volunteer-led event in support of breast cancer in Canada, uniting more than 70,000 participants and 6,000 volunteers in Ontario alone.

"This disease touches thousands of women and their families every year," says Sandra Palmaro, CEO of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region. "The depth and breadth of our volunteer commitment demonstrates the importance and pervasiveness of the cause."

The Volunteer Awards Ceremony is held in recognition of National Volunteer Week, but the success of Foundation volunteers is evident year-round. Because of the contribution of time and skill of these individuals and the dedication to the cause they inspire in others, incredible advances in breast cancer research are being made possible.

"Progress in our lifetime is more than possible - it's proven," adds Palmaro. "Real change is happening - change that is saving and improving lives. This is the day we thank our volunteers and acknowledge their extraordinary contributions to our goal of creating a future without breast cancer. We can't thank them enough."

The Foundation's Ontario Region was proud to recognize these distinguished volunteers as winners at the 3rd Annual Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Region Volunteer Awards Ceremony. Thanks to their efforts and those of others like them, the Foundation can continue to work towards creating a future without breast cancer.

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation was founded in 1986 as the first organization in the country devoted exclusively to the funding of breast cancer research, education and awareness initiatives. The Foundation continues to blaze new trails in breast cancer and breast health by directing donor dollars to world-class researchers and clinicians who are contributing to groundbreaking progress in breast cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care. Since 2000, the Foundation has directed more than $68 million to the cause in Ontario alone as a result of fundraising initiatives like our signature event the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure, hundreds of thousands of donors and the efforts of a committed volunteer network numbering in the thousands.

For further information: Liz Worth, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, at [phone], ext. 512, or [email protected]