In This Together fundraising campaign over halfway to goal for new chemo unit

A fundraising campaignto build a new chemotherapy unit at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's has passed the halfway mark in just a few months.

Called In This Together,thecampaignreleased a new video on Thursday of more than 500 local musicians joining together to sing the songOne Voiceto support the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation's initiative.

Kellie Walsh, artistic director of Shallaway, helped bring the idea to life.

"This song is kind of the foundation of who we are as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians," said Walsh, as "One Voiceis about how we come together to make our place a better place."

CBC Newfoundland and Labrador joined local choirs Shallaway, Lady Cove, Newman Sound, Holy Heart Chamber Choir and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra to create the video.

In This Together

5 years ago

Duration 5:35

An estimated 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Sarah Halliday, Julia Halfyard and Robert Colbourne share their stories of being touched by cancer as part of the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation's In This Together campaign.

Much-needed space

Gen Bishop appears in the video, and has been battling three different kinds of cancer over the last seven years.

"I come to the cancer clinic very often, at least three to four times a month. And when you walk in through the cancer clinic doors, you see the volume of people in the waiting area, and there's so many that are touched by this disease," she said.

We have to join as a community to really support, to make this a wonderful place for everyone.- Gen Bishop

Bishop said with new treatments for people like her with stage four "incurable" cancer, "we are living longer" as morepeople are affected by cancer every day as well.

"We have to join as a community to really support, to make this a wonderful place for everyone."

Tripling size

According to the Canadian Cancer Society,one in two Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will have cancer in their lifetime. It used to be one in three.

"That's an amazing statistic," said Gary Smith, chair of the cancer care foundation.

"But it actually goes beyond that, because we all know, when someone you know and love gets cancer everyone gets involved."

The new chemotherapy unit will be built on the third floor of the nuclear medicine centre, with a 10,214 square foot treatment facility and more space to meet future demand, includingan in-house pharmacy.

That's almost three times the size of the current 3,500 square foot centre below the new space, which Smith said simply cannot handle the increasing number of cancer patients.

• Read more about the campaign here

Karl Smith, chair of the In This Together campaign, said they are over halfway to the $5 million total needed, after theprovincial government gave $1.5 million of the $6.5 million price tag. TheHebron Project Employers' Association donated $1.4 million.

"We're hopeful that by the end of this year we'll have the funds in place and we can just get started building," he said.

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