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Northern miners group raises $20,000 for cancer centre

Miners for Cancer made announcement during its sixth annual Christmas gala.
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Members of Miners for Cancer hold a $20,000 cheque that will go towards renovating the chemotherapy suites at the Northeast Cancer Centre in Sudbury.

A fundraising group inspired by Northern Ontario miners has raised $20,000 to the Northeast Cancer Centre’s chemotherapy suites.

Miners for Cancer announced the donation during its sixth annual Christmas gala on Dec. 2 in Sudbury.

“When patients are facing some of their darkest days, the chemo suite should be a welcoming place and a place of hope rather than a very medical and scary looking place,” said Steffany Bourque, manager of systemic treatments and Daffodil Lodge at the Northeast Cancer Centre.

“If we can have a patient come in and relax and take their mind off their treatment — if only for a moment — I believe we have made their cancer journey better. The donation to the chemo suite to better the patient experience is simply invaluable.”

Miners for Cancer was started in 1996 by Wayne Tonelli and Allan Epps, former miners who worked together at Inco (now Vale) in Sudbury who started organizing extracurricular sports activities as a way to socialize with coworkers outside the workplace.

To date, the group has raised more than $1 million for vital cancer patient care, equipment and research at Northeast Cancer Centre, which is located in Sudbury and serves patients from across Northern Ontario who are receiving treatment for cancer.