Toyota Boshoku Gets Into the Holiday Spirit

Tuesday, 24 December 2019 09:55

Members of Toyota Boshoku Canada in Woodstock presented the local Cancer Society with a giant cheque on Monday.

WOODSTOCK - Employee's at Toyota Boshoku in Woodstock and Elmira have raised over $24,000 over the last two years for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Two years ago, they raised funds for breast cancer research. This year they swapped their pink breast cancer shirts for purple, to raise funds for world class pancreatic cancer research. Toyota Boshoku General Manager Andrew Martin explains why they focused on pancreatic cancer this year.

"We had a dear team member, Vay Zhou, pass away due to pancreatic cancer so our team felt compelled to support by selling special edition purple uniforms and providing proceeds to this worth-while cause."

Pancreatic cancer is a devastating and difficult-to-treat disease because it often doesn't cause any signs or symptoms in the early stages. As a result, it often grows quickly and aggressively. More than half of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed at stage 4, meaning they have already spread to other parts of the body. The difficulty in treating this cancer highlights the need for further research to improve pancreatic cancer prevention, screening, early detection, and treatment strategies, that Toyota Boshoku is making possible by designating their funds directly to pancreatic cancer research to detect it earlier and treat it more effectively.

Community Fundraising Specialist Hailey Parliament says they are thrilled with the support from Toyota Boshoku.

"The support we receive from community partners like Toyota Boshoku who can host creative and personalized fundraising events and raise funds for cancer research that is meaningful to them supports CCS in continuing to fund ground-breaking research to accelerate progress so that more cancers can be prevented and more people will not just survive cancer, but live longer and fuller lives."