Donna Kelso, secretary-treasurer of the Osoyoos Kiwanis Club, pins a daffodil onto Mayor Sue McKortoff after the mayor proclaimed April as Daffodil Month in Osoyoos. On the left is Bill Ashdown, a Kiwanis director, and on the right is Myra Mohninger, club president. The club will be placing daffodil pins with local businesses to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. (Richard McGuire photo)
In April the daffodils bloom in local gardens, but for the Canadian Cancer Society and the Osoyoos Kiwanis Club, daffodils have a special meaning.
For 60 years, the Canadian Cancer Society has been using daffodils to support their fundraising.
On Friday, joined by members of Kiwanis, Mayor Sue McKortoff proclaimed April as Daffodil Month in Osoyoos.
“Almost everybody has somebody in their family that’s dealt with cancer,” said McKortoff. “Several that I know of, very close friends are dealing with it. So I think bringing awareness about this issue is absolutely key.”
Donna Kelso, Kiwanis secretary-treasurer, said her club is taking boxes of daffodil pins around to local businesses.
Although the club sold cut daffodil flowers two years ago, that isn’t being done this year.
“It’s partly because of the winter they had on the coast and partly because Easter is late this year,” said Kelso. “So they are concentrating on the pins.”
Kiwanis will be at AG Foods on Friday and Saturday with a Canadian Cancer Society receipt book so that people can get tax receipts for their donations.
Last year an estimated 202,400 Canadians were diagnosed with cancer and 78,800 died of the disease.
Nonetheless, through medical advancements, the survival rate has greatly improved. In the 1940s, the survival rate was 25 per cent. Today more than 60 per cent of Canadians diagnosed with cancer will survive at least five years after their diagnosis.
For more information, visit cancer.ca/daffodil.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
