Partnership benefits Bancroft Crusaders and CARE North Hastings

By Nate Smelle

On the afternoon of Saturday, June 8, members of the Bancroft Crusaders Relay For Life team, gathered at North Hastings High School along with cancer survivors, and supporters of their campaign to fight cancer. Each year, the event raises funds for the Canadian Cancer Society to support local residents battling cancer and fund research to aiming to fight the merciless disease. It is also a way for those who have survived to celebrate beating cancer.
As a member of the Crusaders, Jennifer McGhee was one of the organizers of the event on June 8. She told Bancroft This Week that up until the COVID-19 pandemic the event was held in Bancroft's Millennium Park, however, due to public health measures they changed the event to Relay Your Way to give people the opportunity to support the cause in a safe way on their own. This year, now that the pandemic is in the rearview mirror, McGhee said they changed the name of the event to Relay My Way, and switched the location to the high school to avoid any cancellations as a result of bad weather.
According to McGhee, as of press time on June 30, the Crusaders had raised nearly $57,000. To raise this money, their team has several fundraising initiatives including: Euchre Parties; Yard Sales, a Book Sale; Ladies Shopping Nights; Hockey Pool Draws, Raffles; Silent Auctions; and, their newest event Bingo Nights. Similar to the Euchre Parties, the Crusaders hosted Bingo each month from mid-October to late-May, except for in December. What makes this new addition to their campaign so special, she said, was the fact it stemmed from the Bancroft Crusaders new partnership with CARE North Hastings.
“This is exactly what a great partnership looks like,” McGhee said. “We gave out more than $5,000 in prizes to people who attended our Bingo Fundraising events from September 2023 – May 2024.
CARE North Hastings is a volunteer based, registered charity (#850405598) committed to offering programs and services to seniors 55 years and over and adults 18 years and over living with a disability.
By joining forces with CARE North Hastings on their fundraising campaign for the Canadian Cancer Society, McGhee said it has shown the Bancroft Crusaders how effective a partnership can be. She said their mutually beneficial relationship is a great example for people and groups — especially those living in small towns such as the ones found in North Hastings — how they can work together to help each other achieve their goals.
“It really worked out well,“ said McGhee. “It's a win-win. The Bancroft Crusaders brought all of this with CARE North Hastings to the community. We have a Monthly Bingo event which raises money for the Canadian Cancer Society and CARE North Hastings. It gets people out and about, gets people networking, and gets people volunteering in the community. There are all kinds of examples of this waterfall effect.” “It is a good news story, but we also hope to inspire more people to partner up for events and causes that are important to them. That would be a really good thing for everyone in our community.”
McGhee said the partnership has been beneficial for both organizations. For instance, of the $5,000+ raised through their joint campaign, she said CARE North Hastings retained $2,000 to help cover some of the costs of their programs and services; including those incurred when they help cancer patients access transportation to their treatments. McGhee has enjoyed working with CARE North Hastings so much, she told Bancroft This Week that last September she started volunteering at their Heritage Shop.
To learn more about the partnership between the Bancroft Crusaders and CARE North Hastings follow them on social media. For more information on the Bancroft Crusaders visit their website at: www.bancroftcrusaders.ca/ For more information on CARE North Hastings visit them online at: www.carenorthhastings.org/