by Alana Dunsmore
COVID CANCELLED FUNDRAISER EVENTS, BUT CANCER DOESN’T STOP!
For the past 13 years ESCA hosted a Dragon Boat Festival. Not only is it an important fundraising event for them, but it is also an opportunity to raise awareness. Unfortunately, this year they’ve had to cancel the event due to COVID-19. ESCA felt it was the best and safest decision for everyone involved. In fact, all of ESCA’s fundraisers were cancelled or postponed. Cancer doesn’t stop, and neither has the ESCA cancer support – they quickly moved almost all of their support services online.
NOW ESCA NEEDS YOUR HELP
Since they have had to cancel their usual fundraisers, the amazing team at ESCA developed a COVID friendly alternative, Steps for CancerSupport. This is a great idea because it is so easy to participate – everyone walks. Plus, it encourages us all to stay active.
STEPS FOR CANCERSUPPORT – STEP UP TO THE CHALLENGE!
Steps for Cancersupport, around the world in 20 days, is a fitness challenge where teams or individuals can set their own personal goals to help collectively achieve the 55 million steps it would take to walk around the earth’s circumference. Why 20 days? To mark the 20th anniversary of ESCA CancerSupport!
There will be three categories in this Challenge: corporate teams, open teams, and individuals.
Whether you are an individual looking for extra motivation to reach your recommended 10,000 steps per day or a group doing team training for your next marathon, REGISTER for Steps for CancerSupport and make each step count for local cancer patients and their loved ones. You can also SUPPORT a team or individual competing in the Challenge!
Given the changing COVID situation please refer to government advice while taking part in the challenge and remember that teams can be virtual as well as in-person.
WHO IS ESCA AND WHERE DID IT ALL START?
They began as the English-Speaking Cancer Support Group (ECSG) and was formed in 1999 by an American who was living and working in Geneva. When he was diagnosed with cancer, he found himself having difficulty expressing himself in French. At which time he approached his counsellor and shared his idea of forming a support group specifically for the English community. It started out as a small group meeting in local bookstores.
Since the beginning, the mission has been to continue to provide assistance to individuals directly or indirectly affected by cancer. This support can come in many ways. It can include coping with the initial shock of a diagnosis or coping with the treatments and side effects, to processing the grief and bereavement as well as the recovery and healing after treatments. For a community like Geneva Expats this help can be vital because so many of us don’t have family nearby.
WHY AROUND THE WORLD?
While their services are in English, ESCA provides support to anyone in the international community. Therefore, walking around the world reflects both the diverse backgrounds of the people they aim to help as well as the supportive volunteers.
HOW TO TAKE PART
Registration will be open until August 11, 2020. So…step up to the challenge and find your team or just do it yourself! The challenge starts August 18 and will run until September 6, when the CancerSupport Festival was originally planned.
BUT THERE’S MORE YOU CAN DO
You can also help by finding sponsors to partner with ESCA for this and future events. If you have any contacts (friends, family) or any other leads, we would love to hear from you! You can contact an ESCA rep by email at partnership@cancersupport.ch.
If the first two ways to help do not work for you but you want to help this great cause, another way would be to donate HERE.
Lastly, please encourage your friends or family to participate in this great cause. That’s another great thing about this challenge; anybody can participate no matter where in the world they live.
LET’S ALL GET OUT AND WALK!
