The Cause
Why This Race Matters
The BDO Cedars CanSupport Dragon Boat Race is the primary annual fundraiser for Cedars CanSupport. It is an extraordinary event that brings together a community of nearly 1,000 people to have fun while raising money to help those who are at their most vulnerable.
All of the proceeds from the BDO Cedars CanSupport Dragon Boat Race go directly to Cedars CanSupport.
Cedars CanSupport
Cedars CanSupport is a program funded by the Cedars Cancer Foundation and managed by the MUHC, as part of its Supportive and Palliative Care Division. Since 1989, Cedars CanSupport has helped thousands of MUHC cancer patients and families get through one of the most difficult times of their lives.
In partnership with the MUHC healthcare team, its professional staff and trained volunteers provide complementary support programs and services that are evidence‑based and specially designed to improve quality of life and wellbeing, alongside conventional treatment.
- Patients in active or post treatment
- Patients living with advanced cancer
- Patients receiving end-of-life care
- Patients’ family and friends
- Young adults (18-39) living with cancer, through targeted programming.
- Emotional Support: offered on a one-to-one basis as well as in groups
- Educational Services: access to up-to-date information, pamphlets and books in our Resource Centre
- Complementary therapies: creative art therapy, meditation, yoga, message and more
- Practical resources: free wigs, hats and turbans
- Information about reduced-cost parking
- Information about financial aid
When someone is diagnosed with cancer, their entire life changes in an instant. Cedars CanSupport provides support every step of the way — from wig fittings and taxi chits, to groceries and music therapy — ensuring patients and families are supported throughout their cancer experience.
Cedars Cancer Foundation
The Cedars Cancer Foundation is an important funding partner of the McGill University Health Centre’s fight against cancer. Our aim is to improve the health and well-being of cancer patients of all ages, and their families, throughout and beyond treatment. The funds we raise serve to fulfill top priorities in patient care, research and education across the continuum of life, from pediatric, adolescent and adult care, to survivorship, supportive and palliative care. We support the hospital’s Cancer Centre, which bears our name, as well as the Cancer Research Program of the Research Institute of the MUHC. We are also a founding partner of the Rossy Cancer Network, which brings together McGill University and its teaching hospitals to improve the quality of every patient’s experience and care outcome.
Through Sarah’s Fund for Cedars, we strive to improve the care and quality of life of pediatric cancer patients and their families on Sarah’s Floor at The Children’s. Through the Jackie Aziz AYA Program at Cedars, we help provide adolescents and young adults with holistic care and access to the latest research and clinical trials that meet their unique needs. Through Cedars CanSupport, we provide evidence-based complementary support and therapies that improve the quality of life of adult cancer patients and families, from the moment of diagnosis right through to the end of treatment – or end of life.
Until Cedars CanSupport services are offered to every new patient of the MUHC, thus creating a true model of supportive cancer care, my work is not finished.
— Gwen Andrews Nacos, Cedars CanSupport and Event Founder