People crowded the Wildwinds Golf Links clubhouse area Saturday morning, as golfers prepared for the sixth annual RJ Strong Golf Tournament. The tournament began after Ryan Johnston, an Elora native, received devastating health news. “In February of 2020, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma,” Johnston said. Through his battle, he felt the love and support that his family and community gave him, which led to Johnston wanting to pay it forward through an endowment fund to those in different situations. Johnston and his family sought out the Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) Foundation to make his wishes possible. “Throughout my treatment process and journey with the Waterloo Regional Health Network, I realized that I was in a fortunate position, but I started to wonder how that was handled by everybody, and we certainly noticed a gap throughout the process that we wanted to support,” he said. The sentiment was shared by those involved at the foundation, such as Trevor Eaton, WRHN’s director of engagement, that an endowment fund was more outside the scope of what was normally done. “They reached out to us a number of years ago, and they want to do something a little bit different,” he said. “They wanted to do an endowment fund that would hopefully survive and grow and live for a long time that way and we immediately said yes.” From that point, the Johnston Family and the foundation worked together to create the annual event held at Wildwinds Golf Links, with the inaugural event going ahead in August 2020. Johnston explained that playing at his local course was crucial in making the event what it is. “I’m born and raised in Elora. It’s kind of our local golf course here, and I wanted to make sure that anything we were going to do was going to support my hometown and community,” he said. Golfers can enter the tournament for a fee in teams of four, which all the proceeds going toward the Ryan Johnston Family & Friends Endowment Fund. Since the event’s inception, it has already made a big impact on the lives of others in the community. “We’ve raised, as of last year, about $350,000 net to the fund and we’re supporting young adult cancer patients,” Johnston said. “So, anything from critical care expenses to medications or any treatment, transportation, gas, groceries, really anything that we can support to make the journey a little bit easier… we’re certainly proud and grateful to be able to do.” With such a widespread disease like cancer, Eaton explained how vital a fund like this has been locally. “It’s incredible the need out there,” he said. “Ryan shared with me that he was so fortunate to have a family and a community that supported him through his treatments… that was the impetus of him giving back, he wanted to give back to those that couldn’t or didn’t have that support around him or around them.” According to Eaton, medical bills and other life costs are not the only things that the event is looking to battle. “Having these events and having the awareness really does remove some of that stigma and it gives people a voice knowing it’s not just themselves going through it,” he said. “There’s others that are going through a similar journey, and it helps them maybe share or reach out for help.” While Johnston won his bout with cancer and lives to help others in the same fight, the feeling of pride has never left those closest to him. “It couldn’t be more proud of him for thinking of that because it truly was his idea,” Dave Johnston, Ryan Johnston’s dad said. “It goes much beyond this, (it) has ballooned, , it’s certainly a major tournament… I couldn’t be more proud that what began as an idea has come to fruition and raised a lot of money over the a few years, could not be more proud.” The total amount raised in the 2026 instalment of the event will be announced in the coming days.
