Dianne Penrice was shocked when she heard the news. With just a few days notice, the Canadian Cancer Society informed its volunteers that the Georgetown office would be closing.
Immediately concern grew for local cancer patients. Though the Cancer Society ensured it would still coordinate services in Georgetown, volunteers worried about maintaining the same level of service – would a driver from Oakville be able to find a patient in rural Halton Hills? They also worried about it losing its personal touch, the feeling of a neighbour helping out.
Penrice, Rita Bearstow, Lorri Kelly Quinn, Bill Smith, Bob Stewart and Barry Timlick began exchanging ideas.
“We quickly organized and arranged to have a meeting in the basement of Holy Cross church,” Penrice said. “We had 100 to 120 people there. It was very well supported. We gave them our proposal and our ideas and they were 100 per cent behind us.”
The Premier at the time, Mike Harris, had recently sent $200 cheques to Ontario residents. People were encouraged to donate their cheques to the new organization to give it a start. It was incorporated as a charity and within two months, Cancer Assistance Services of Halton Hills was driving cancer patients to appointments to receive treatment.
Twenty-five years later, Cancer Assistance Halton Hills (as it's now known) is still going strong. In 2024, the organization’s volunteer drivers provided 1,400 rides to appointments for cancer patients in Halton Hills and reimbursed more than $15,000 in parking and mileage to clients.
In the past five years alone, its number of clients grew by 20 per cent.
The organization will mark its milestone with the Cancer Assistance Halton Hills 25th Anniversary Celebration Dinner at Granite Ridge Golf Club on Friday, Apr. 4. Tickets are $75, which includes a three-course meal, an antipasto bar and wine with dinner.
“We are a grassroots charity,” said current executive director Julie Liddle. “We wanted it (the celebration) to be accessible to everybody. We wanted to price the tickets so that anybody could go.”
Penrice, who became the organization’s first president, said that while the Canadian Cancer Society may have left, the volunteers did not.
“The lady who looked after our drivers stayed, our campaign person stayed with us, most of the people directly involved with patients stayed,” she said. “They knew what the job was and they went out and did it.”
Today, the organization has 250 volunteers. Among CAHH’s 65 volunteer drivers are two that have been with the organization since its beginning, three that have been providing rides for more than two decades and eight who have been with them for more than 15 years.
Over the 25 years since it was formed, CAHH has assisted more than 2,200 people.
The charity has expanded its services to include free medical equipment loans, such as bath chairs and walkers, as well as practical and palliative home support, at no charge, to anyone that has been diagnosed with cancer in the Town of Halton Hills.
And what services it doesn’t offer, it has partnered with other organizations, including the Local Health Integration Network, Acclaim Health, Links2Care and Wellspring.
“It’s great that we have these added partnerships to supplement our programs for the things we can’t do,” Liddle said. “At least we can guide our clients and get them the resources and services that they need.”
Liddle joined CAHH seven years ago, initially as a fundraising coordinator. She had organized a successful Ladies Pink PJ Party in support of the organization. It did so well that when CAHH was looking for someone to head their fundraising, they asked her to join the organization.
The Ladies Pink PJ Party is now one of a number of annual CAHH fundraising events that also include the Tour the Hills bike ride and its annual online auction.
Those events are critical for CAHH as it receives no government funding for its services, which are supported by local donations, its fundraising events and its volunteers.
Liddle said the organization gets such great support from the community, citing Christoph Summer from Mountainview Residence for providing CAHH with space for an office. It all helps Cancer Assistance Halton Hills continue to provide its valuable services.
“I’m very proud that it’s still going strong, helping people that need the help,” Penrice said. “The people of this community are very generous and without their support, we couldn’t have done it.”
Herb Garbutt - Halton Hills Today
Immediately concern grew for local cancer patients. Though the Cancer Society ensured it would still coordinate services in Georgetown, volunteers worried about maintaining the same level of service – would a driver from Oakville be able to find a patient in rural Halton Hills? They also worried about it losing its personal touch, the feeling of a neighbour helping out.
Penrice, Rita Bearstow, Lorri Kelly Quinn, Bill Smith, Bob Stewart and Barry Timlick began exchanging ideas.
“We quickly organized and arranged to have a meeting in the basement of Holy Cross church,” Penrice said. “We had 100 to 120 people there. It was very well supported. We gave them our proposal and our ideas and they were 100 per cent behind us.”
The Premier at the time, Mike Harris, had recently sent $200 cheques to Ontario residents. People were encouraged to donate their cheques to the new organization to give it a start. It was incorporated as a charity and within two months, Cancer Assistance Services of Halton Hills was driving cancer patients to appointments to receive treatment.
Twenty-five years later, Cancer Assistance Halton Hills (as it's now known) is still going strong. In 2024, the organization’s volunteer drivers provided 1,400 rides to appointments for cancer patients in Halton Hills and reimbursed more than $15,000 in parking and mileage to clients.
In the past five years alone, its number of clients grew by 20 per cent.
The organization will mark its milestone with the Cancer Assistance Halton Hills 25th Anniversary Celebration Dinner at Granite Ridge Golf Club on Friday, Apr. 4. Tickets are $75, which includes a three-course meal, an antipasto bar and wine with dinner.
“We are a grassroots charity,” said current executive director Julie Liddle. “We wanted it (the celebration) to be accessible to everybody. We wanted to price the tickets so that anybody could go.”
Penrice, who became the organization’s first president, said that while the Canadian Cancer Society may have left, the volunteers did not.
“The lady who looked after our drivers stayed, our campaign person stayed with us, most of the people directly involved with patients stayed,” she said. “They knew what the job was and they went out and did it.”
Today, the organization has 250 volunteers. Among CAHH’s 65 volunteer drivers are two that have been with the organization since its beginning, three that have been providing rides for more than two decades and eight who have been with them for more than 15 years.
Over the 25 years since it was formed, CAHH has assisted more than 2,200 people.
The charity has expanded its services to include free medical equipment loans, such as bath chairs and walkers, as well as practical and palliative home support, at no charge, to anyone that has been diagnosed with cancer in the Town of Halton Hills.
And what services it doesn’t offer, it has partnered with other organizations, including the Local Health Integration Network, Acclaim Health, Links2Care and Wellspring.
“It’s great that we have these added partnerships to supplement our programs for the things we can’t do,” Liddle said. “At least we can guide our clients and get them the resources and services that they need.”
Liddle joined CAHH seven years ago, initially as a fundraising coordinator. She had organized a successful Ladies Pink PJ Party in support of the organization. It did so well that when CAHH was looking for someone to head their fundraising, they asked her to join the organization.
The Ladies Pink PJ Party is now one of a number of annual CAHH fundraising events that also include the Tour the Hills bike ride and its annual online auction.
Those events are critical for CAHH as it receives no government funding for its services, which are supported by local donations, its fundraising events and its volunteers.
Liddle said the organization gets such great support from the community, citing Christoph Summer from Mountainview Residence for providing CAHH with space for an office. It all helps Cancer Assistance Halton Hills continue to provide its valuable services.
“I’m very proud that it’s still going strong, helping people that need the help,” Penrice said. “The people of this community are very generous and without their support, we couldn’t have done it.”
Herb Garbutt - Halton Hills Today
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