Students blow past fundraising total for Terry Fox Foundation Edmonton students reach goal to raise $100K for Terry Fox Foundation People have been hitting the pavement running over the past week at annual Terry Fox runs, with some aiming to raise money for cancer research. In 1980, Canadian Terry Fox began a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research. After 5,373 km, cancer returned to his lungs, halting his journey. He died in 1981. Since then, more than $850 million has been raised by the annual Terry Fox Runs held across Canada, usually in September. On Friday, students from Avalon Junior High School held their run. Last year, the school raised $41,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation. That total placed them first in Alberta and seventh in Canada among fundraising schools. “It’s the best day of the year,” said Grade 8 student Colter Southworth. “It’s just such a beautiful thing. We’re all coming together, celebrating and making a difference.” This year, the school hoped to surpass last year’s total, but also set an ambitious goal of $100,000. “Pretty amazing stuff for a little junior high of 570-ish students,” said principal Kirstin Johns-Bell. “We have some teams that have fundraised over $13,000. So when you think about adolescents and what they can do, these are the future leaders of tomorrow, and it’s just super inspiring.” As an incentive to get students motivated to fundraise, Johns-Bell agreed to get a tattoo if the school nears its fundraising goal. There were also prizes donated for the top three runners in each grade, including a frozen turkey, as well as prizes for top fundraisers. The prizes were donated by community sponsors, according to Johns-Bell. As of 3 p.m. Friday, the total raised was $111,194.90. That could go even higher as donations remain open until Monday. That high of a donation total is enough to place them first in Canada among fundraising schools, Johns-Bell said. Since the goal was passed, the students now have a chance to submit artwork to inspire the tattoo Johns-Bell will get. She says the plan is to get it done in the school gym so the students can see it happen.
