Dear Friends,

I’m writing to inform you all of my decision to join the fight against breast cancer in loving memory of my Grandmother, Ellen Hemming-Strnad.  As many of you know, I embarked on a weight loss journey just over a year ago.. after many years of encouragement from my Grandma (and others), I finally had the will power to take that first step.  Now, almost 60lbs later, I am finally in the best shape of my life (so far)!  I would like to take this opportunity to give thanks to my beloved Grandma for giving me the courage I needed by doing the One Day, 32km Walk to End Breast Cancer in her name.  She showed us her own immense courage in her battle against breast cancer, and I look forward to carrying this honour and memory of her in my heart during my one-day journey.

However, I can’t do this alone.. and this is why I ask for your blessing and your support by making a donation to help me reach my fund raising goal.  While I understand times are tough, every little bit helps and adds up to an even greater gift -- the gift of one day bringing an end to this terrible disease.

Please visit endcancer.ca, click the “Donate Now” button and enter my name to donate.  Any donation over $10 will receive a tax receipt and of course, my thanks.  You can also visit my personal page to follow along with my progress.  There’s of course no obligation to donate right now, if you don’t want to, but please keep in mind that I must submit all donations by September 12th, 2009 in order to participate in the walk.

Thank you all for your time and support.. wish me luck!

- Brock

Here's a gesture on my part... This goes to anyone who wants some rework done to a machine. I will MATCH in value on a rework any donation of 100$ or over to this cause. So if you donate 100$, I give you a 100$ credit on a playfield or cabinet rework. Simple as that.

  Ian, that's amazing!!  Thanks for your generosity!

one rather important detail I forgot to mention... when you follow the links, you can donate to "Brock Hemming"

Thanks.  

Just for the sake of ease, here's the link to Brock's page:
http://www.endcancer.ca/site/TR/Events/Toronto2009?px=1204990&pg=personal&fr_id=1323

One 150$ credit to a member... that was quick... Thanks!!!

Can anyone do better? I feel generous. I will offer a credit to the next person that matches or surpasses 150$!

And even better!!! The person who donated 150$ has offered their credit as a raffle prize! So to anyone that donates 10$ or more, you now have a chance of winning a 150$ credit for any type of rework!

If you donate, merely post here stating "DONATION SENT" and your name will go into a pot to win the 150$ credit. I will take names until July 25th at 12pm, and do the draw then!

Be generous... cancer really sucks.

wow, this is amazing!!  You guys are the best

I'll do my best to keep track of the members who donate, but please PM me if you do.. I don't think you can enter your alias on the donation form and I don't know everyone's name.

thanks, everyone!  THIS IS GREAT!!

Quoted from Sparky

And even better!!! The person who donated 150$ has offered their credit as a raffle prize! So to anyone that donates 10$ or more, you now have a chance of winning a 150$ credit for any type of rework!

If you donate, merely post here stating "DONATION SENT" and your name will go into a pot to win the 150$ credit. I will take names until July 25th at 12pm, and do the draw then!

Be generous... cancer really sucks.

Actually, PM me with the amount you donated... every 10$ donation gets you 1 entry... so if you donated 50$, you get 5 entries in the pot...

C'mon guys... this is one time I REALLY want to see PM SENT TO SPARKY!!!!

Let's go guys, please donate to this worthy cause.

Yes What Mark said!

NAMES IN FOR THE DRAW (updated June 3rd):

Cooke

Monkeybug

Subpacket

B1buwg97

Tuborg

Jonny Eh

Whizzervic

PinballJM

The Loafer

Congrats to Tuborg for a 100$ credit!

OK... I can handle 1 more credit of 100$ or more, matching the next person that donates that amount. If that person donates but doesn't want the credit, I will apply it to the draw.

THANK YOU, EVERYONE!!!  This is great..

I'll be missing the Starburst auction (it's the same day as my walk), but it's for a good cause.  

Walk HARD!

Let's keep this going guys

And my last credit goes to PinballJM for a 150$ donation.

Keep donating guys... there is still that 150$ credit up for grabs for the draw.

Lets make this a reality folks, please donate

Bump...

What... do I have to auction off stuff so that donations go to Brock? Come on guys... most of you use the site like crazy. Many of you have bought and sold machines through here. What I ask is that instead of donating to MAACA, give it to Brock. It's all for a good cause...

Cancer frickin sucks.

Hey, Thanks Sparky!

I don't want to pressure people though, I do understand that this probably isn't the best time to do fund raising.. but then you have to understand that it's times like this that really take a toll on charities.  There is still plenty of time though for those of you who would like to donate but simply can't right now.

Thanks to all who have donated so far.. with your help, I'm 1/3 of the way to my goal of $2,000!!

BUUUUUUUUUMP!!!

The draw for a 150$ restoration credit goes on!!! Please give generously to Brock's cause for a cure for cancer. everyone has lost someone to cancer in their family.

Come on guys... you all use MAACA for fun. I don't ask for donations, but it would be a good thing to send some Brock's way.

And I will contribute any and all MAACA donations until the run to Brock's cause.

Thanks, Ian!  

Can i donate stuff to be auction and the proceed go for the cause?

my aunt just got cancer , not long ago , and she's doing fine now....

but still i never tought cancer would hit her or anyone near me ,
i know how death is my father passed away when i was just 13 , so ... i can understand how it is to lose a love one .

Hey, all!

First off, thanks for all the support so far, it's been very helpful and I'm still training strong!

I know times are tough, but I'm just a month and a half away from the big Walk to End Breast Cancer, so please help me in the battle if you can!  When the economy is bad, it's the charities that hurt the most

And remember, it's all tax deductible  

Thank you

Quoted from Sparky

And even better!!! The person who donated 150$ has offered their credit as a raffle prize! So to anyone that donates 10$ or more, you now have a chance of winning a 150$ credit for any type of rework!

If you donate, merely post here stating "DONATION SENT" and your name will go into a pot to win the 150$ credit. I will take names until July 25th at 12pm, and do the draw then!

Be generous... cancer really sucks.

What happened with this?

Quoted from cooke

What happened with this?

Crap... I didn't post the draw... just contacted the winner... Loafer won it. I put a bunch of post-its with names on them for every 10$ increment they donated, and I had my son pull the paper out.

Robert Courtemanche is the official winner!

Special thanks to Sky for his donation!

i saw a pretty inspirational video during my orientation a few months ago, and they've finally put it on Youtube.  Check it out HERE

*BUMP*

The walk's coming up fast!  Thanks again to all who have donated!

There's still time to donate, and remember.. it's all tax deductible!    

Only 10 days until my big walk, and only $360 left to raise before I'm allowed to participate!  Every little bit helps!  

Thanks, everyone!  

Just one last reminder to you all that I'm walking tomorrow, so this is the last day I can receive donations from anyone!   I'm still $840 from my goal, but just $90 away from meeting the minimum requirement to participate in the walk, so every little bit counts!  

It's quite the sign that times like these take their tole on charities such as this..  

Which is why everyone who has donated so far deserves a HUGE thank you for your support.  

Thanks to all, and wish me luck!  

Success!

Thank you all for supporting my journey.

With your help, 4611 walkers were able to raise over $11 million dollars in support of womens cancer research.  With your help, we are that much closer to bringing this fight to an end.

My walk went well, it took 7 hours to walk 34kms which (although not a race) put me in the first 200 to cross the finish line on Day 1!  It was an experience of a lifetime, and I look forward to doing it again.

So again, I thank you all for your support for the 2009 Walk to End Breast Cancer.. I couldn't have done it without your help.

so very sore...

Congrats on your walk and your efforts with this cause.  Your grandma would be/is very proud Brock.

Like I said Saturday, Congrats man it truly is a wonderful thing that you did...Amazing

On a side note though I find it somewhat troubling that a charity can dictate how much you have to raise before you can do the walk... I would think in these times they would accept anyone who wants to help with open arms...i.e. someone who might only be able to raise $100 , do they seriously tell that person we don't want your money and no you can't walk with us and support our cause?

Awesome Brock!!! Indeed, she would be proud...

As for me, count me in for the same support for next time.

Quoted from b1buwg97

On a side note though I find it somewhat troubling that a charity can dictate how much you have to raise before you can do the walk... I would think in these times they would accept anyone who wants to help with open arms...i.e. someone who might only be able to raise $100 , do they seriously tell that person we don't want your money and no you can't walk with us and support our cause?

No their happy to take your money, but if you can't raise the $2000 you get two options:

1) You don't walk

2) You pay the remainder of the balance out of your own pocket.  

My fiancee did the walk last year and while I think it's a great thing that Brock did, (my fiancee couldn't even finish the walk) I don't approve of the business practices of this charity.

I had to pay $40 to walk..  

Still a great experience, though.

Congrats Brock.   I bet the couch and TV felt good after being on your feet for 7 hours!

Quoted from Tuborg

Congrats Brock.   I bet the couch and TV felt good after being on your feet for 7 hours!

and the beer...  

Out of curiosity, what is the difference between women's cancer research and men's cancer research? What happens if they stumble on the cure for prostate cancer?

Good job Brock, you made me proud to be a donor

Quoted from jonny_eh

Out of curiosity, what is the difference between women's cancer research and men's cancer research?

Endocrinology.

That's one of the horrible things about cancer. It doesn't follow the epidemiological patterns of other diseases like viruses. It's a cellular disorder which can have a million contributing factors.

Also, congrats on doing the walk Brock.

Quoted from sentinelking

Endocrinology.  

I was going to be negative - not trying to offend anyone - but relate research-dollars on potential revenues,  

Women get annual checkups.   Generalizing & extrapolating, woman can be diagnosed earlier and likely treated earlier and hopefully more successfully.   The treatments generate medication revenues.   Men delay annual checkups until absolutely necessary, and are diagnosed later in the cycle and treatment is not as successful.   If men were more rigorous in their health checkups there might be more research in male-related illnesses??

The above is lacking any research.  Its just an "opinion".   Apologies if I have offended anyone - I know this is a sensitive subject.

By the way, $2000 is peanuts, I believe Lance Armstrong raises $20,000 from people that want to cycle with him in his charity events.   I think your $20,000 donation allows you to chat with him during the event.   Put he's always got a full house of people cycling with him.

Quoted from jonny_eh

Out of curiosity, what is the difference between women's cancer research and men's cancer research? What happens if they stumble on the cure for prostate cancer?

It's a fair question.. really the biggest difference is simply the anatomy difference.  The focus of womens cancers are on the reproductive system.  However there have been studies that breast cancer is directly linked to many other types of cancer, both male and female (men can get breast cancer too), and that's why they've extended it to all forms of womens cancer.  There are charities for mens cancers as well, I just chose to walk for breast cancer because my family has been touched by it (thankfully though, there's no other history of cancer in our family).  My grandmother did beat breast cancer, however she was taken by a brain tumor 2 years ago which we think was related to her previous history with breast cancer.

But all that sad stuff aside, cancer research is good regardless of what sex you're fighting for.. generally the treatments and medications can be modified for both.

Anyway, thanks again to all..    I'm actually feeling better as the day goes by here, so I'll probably go for a run tonight!

Quoted from machine.slave

But all that sad stuff aside, cancer research is good regardless of what sex you're fighting for.. generally the treatments and medications can be modified for both.

Exactly.   Well said.

A walk for any cancer research is good, it'll help everyone. Heck, I'd walk for mouse cancer research, that's how all the good discoveries in medicine start.