Discovery Luncheon – Kelowna Raises Record $150,000 to bring PET/CT to the Southern Interior
November 16, 2017
Found in News
KELOWNA, B.C. – BC’s Southern Interior is one step closer to acquiring its first PET/CT scanner, thanks to a record-breaking amount raised at Wednesday’s Discovery Luncheon – Kelowna.
The event, in its seventh year, raised $150,000 to support the BC Cancer Foundation’s campaign to acquire a PET/CT scanner for the BC Cancer Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre for the Southern Interior.
The BC Cancer Foundation is now halfway to raising the $5-million needed to purchase the scanner, the most advanced diagnostic tool available today. The scanner is expected to help improve outcomes for the 5,000 people diagnosed with cancer each year across the region.
“I continue to be inspired by the generosity of our donors who contributed a record-breaking amount on Wednesday to improve the standard of cancer care here in Kelowna and across the Southern Interior,” says Sarah Roth, President & CEO of the BC Cancer Foundation.
“Together we are changing the outcome for families facing cancer, now and well into the future.”
Roughly 400 people attended the event, held at the Delta Grand Hotel in Kelowna and generously sponsored by BMO Bank of Montreal and Sentes Automotive.
BC Cancer’s Drs Ross Halperin and Sarah Lucas both spoke to the benefits of the scanner in improving outcomes for patients, as well as alleviating the burden on families who currently have to travel to Vancouver where the province’s two publicly-funded scanners are located.
“For many of our patients, travelling to the Lower Mainland for a PET/CT scan is an insurmountable challenge,” says radiation oncologist Dr. Sarah Lucas.
“By having a PET/CT scanner at the BC Cancer Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre for the Southern Interior, we will be able to ensure that our patients are able to receive the very best care without being burdened by travel and time away from home.”
Jeremy King, a cancer survivor who travelled to Vancouver to receive a PET/CT scan, spoke at the event, underscoring the importance of housing a PET/CT scanner at the Southern Interior Centre.
“For many patients, having to travel away home, dealing with the uncertainty of a cancer diagnosis, is not ideal.” says Jeremy of his experience. “A PET/CT scanner in Kelowna will take away this burden for folks.”
No stranger to philanthropy, Tom Budd of The Thomas Alan Budd Foundation once again showed generous support for the campaign with a matching gift of $35,000 at the event.
To learn more about PET/CT, visit https://bccancerfoundation.com/PET
-30-
Media enquiries please contact:
Vincent Matak
Communications Coordinator
BC CANCER FOUNDATION
D: 604.707.5934
C: 778.855.5558
bccancerfoundation.com
