He didn't start out with a lot of support. He ran it anyway. Terry Fox, 31 years ago, decided to run across Canada to help raise funds for cancer research. We all know his remarkable story.
However, over the years, his legacy just hasn't seemed to have had the same impact. Val Middleton spent five hours waiting for participants to come join the annual Terry Fox event in Unity. Eleven people showed up over the entire five-hour stretch. Disappointing is one way to put it.
Can you blame the schools for holding their own events? Not really, considering they are still doing their part in Terry's memory. Organizers felt that holding this on a day when several other events were slated might work to their benefit, but they were wrong. Harvest may have hampered the turnout. They are hoping for any reason other than apathy. They tried to market the event differently this year, reminding folks that Terry only asked each Canadian to donate a dollar to help this worthy effort.
They will forge on though because that is what Terry did himself, and that is what he asked fellow Canadians to do - to forge on in his memory. So next year organizers will try a different approach yet again with the hope that folks will remember why the third Sunday in September is set aside in his honour, as well as remembering the cause he so valiantly fought for.
Just over $500 was raised with the Unity event so, being hopeful, the organizers feel that any amount raised for cancer research in Terry's legacy can never be a bad thing. In the 30 years since people first joined together to finish Terry's walk for him over $550 million has been raised worldwide.
