Skate4Cancer

Skate4Cancer is a foundation created by Rob Dyer after losing many of his loved ones to cancer.[1][2] The main idea behind Skate4Cancer is that the cure is knowledge. They show you how to prevent cancer so that you can catch it early and hopefully become cancer free as soon as possible.

Skate 4 Cancer deploys a fundraising tent for potential donors.

In 2004, Dyer skated over 8000 km from his hometown of Newmarket, Ontario to Los Angeles, California. Just four months prior to his skate, Rob lost his paternal grandmother to stomach cancer. Before he knew it, his maternal grandmother died from brain cancer. After losing two of the most important women in his life, his world was turned upside down when he lost his mother, Wendy, to brain cancer. That wasn't it, right before he set out on his skate, he lost his best friend to stomach cancer. There were many obstacles but Rob and the S4C team finished the skate in 5 months.[3]

In 2008, Rob decided he would do yet another cross country skate, this time focusing on Canada. He left Vancouver, BC in June and within 4 days he was already at the Rocky Mountains. They finished their second skate on a late November night in Halifax, NS.[4]

Rob and the team traveled to New Zealand and Australia in early 2010. They quickly covered New Zealand, and then made their way to Australia for the second leg of their skate. Almost in Adelaide, Rob was hit by a car while skating one afternoon. He managed to get up and walk a bit to get cell phone service so he could call the van to come pick him up. He immediately went to the doctor, who discovered Rob had a groin injury that would take 4 to 6 weeks to heal. Rob decided to return to Canada, and planned to finish the skate in the following year. Rob ended up skating a total of 3667 km before returning home.[5]

Dyer and the team are set to start a France skate on June 21, 2011.[6]

In 2011, with help from West49, Skate4Cancer/DreamLoveCure were able to raise over $100,000. through the sales of S4C T-shirts, for Wellspring.ca to help families dealing with cancer.[7]

Skate4Cancer has toured with bands such as RocketRocketShip, The Deftones, City and color, Alexisonfire, Silverstein, The Devil Wears Prada, Shad and have also had a booth set up at Warped Tour for the past few years and have a booth at this year's SCENE fest. They stock up on fliers about self breast exams, quitting smoking and other ways to prevent cancer.

In 2009 Ashley Kirilow shaved her head and eyebrows and plucked her eyelashes, to masquerade as a cancer sufferer in need of funds on her Facebook page.

In 2009, Ashley Kirilow, a woman who shaved her head, plucked her eyebrows and starved herself to appear as a chemotherapy patient, convinced Rob and the team to fly her to Disney World to spend time with her hero, Rob Dyer.[8][9][10] Many newspapers showed a collage of a flattering, pre-hoax image of Kirilow, next to an image of a bald Kirilow, with plucked eyebrows and eyelashes, showing the lengths to which a determined hoaxster would go, to seek sympathy. Skate4Cancer sent out a statement saying "For your peace of mind, Skate4Cancer has no formal or informal affiliation to Change For A Cure. There have been no jointly held events or fundraising initiatives. Skate4Cancer's involvement with Ms. Kirilow was based solely on fulfilling what the organization believed to be a legitimate final wish from a terminally ill individual. " [11]

The Cure is Knowledge tour - Established an interactive campaign which encourages healthy living and an active lifestyle focused on cancer prevention while remaining attainable and relevant to the youth demographic. - Revolutionized philanthropy in the music touring industry by collaborating with major festivals and international tours including Warped Tour, NXNE, All Time Low, SHAD and Lights.[12]

Skate4Cancer Winnipeg is a skateboarding and live music event in support of cancer awareness and prevention. It occurs annually, and is free to the public. “We’re just trying to educate people, mostly youth, on different forms of cancer and how you can potentially avoid them.” Jay Fulmore says, BE:Cause Industries co-founder and S4C Winnipeg coordinator. each year this event brings out thousands of young people and has been active since 2006.[13]

S4C Opened their first pop-up shop in the fall of 2013 at 1101 Queen St West Toronto, where clothing was sold to support Wellspring.ca and movember.com . Over $20,000 has been donated to the causes. "Through your time, support, clothing sales, and generous donations we were able to donate over $5,000 to our friends at Movember and over $15,000 to our friends at Wellspring. The support we received from our local and global community blew us away! We’re so happy to have met and worked with all the beautiful hearts during the S4C Shop’s 5 months in Toronto."[14]

References

1. "Skate 4 Cancer". Winnipeg Sun. 2009-05-19. Archived from the original on 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2010-09-05. Skate4Cancer combined 14 bands and varying styles of skateboarding competition to raise awareness of cancer prevention in youth at The Forks on May 16, 2009.
2. Chris Clay (2009-07-02). "Skate 4 Cancer raises funds for hospital". Toronto Life. Archived from the original on 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2010-09-05. The band list continues to grow as Sunday's Skate 4 Cancer concert draws closer.
3. "2004 USA Skate". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
4. "2009 Canada Skate". Archived from the original on 2011-04-12. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
5. "2010 New Zealand/Australia Skate". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
6. "2011 France Skate". Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
7. "Donor Recognition". Wellspring. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28.
8. Brendan Kennedy (2010-08-06). "Woman faked cancer to raise money". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2010-08-19. Retrieved 2010-03-16. Skate4Cancer’s involvement with Ms. Kirilow was based solely on fulfilling what the organization believed to be a legitimate final wish from a terminally ill individual.
9. Linda Nguyen (2010-08-10). "Woman accused of faking cancer held in custody". Saskatoon Star Phoenix. Retrieved 2010-09-05. Meredith Dejonge, 25, alleges that Kirilow befriended local groups and recruited volunteers to help her organize events and benefit concerts, and even convinced a cancer awareness organization -Skate 4 Cancer -to fly her to Disney World to fulfill what she said was a dying wish.
10. "Imagine Festival - better if Ticketmaster/Livenation is involved, "Change 4 A cure" = scam". Retrieved 2010-09-06.
11. "Change 4 A Cure = Scam". Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2011. Skate4Cancer has recently become aware of the allegations of fraud brought against Ms. Ashley Kirilow, and her not-for-profit organization known as "Change For A Cure". These allegations have shocked and saddened both Skate4Cancer's founder Rob Dyer, as well as the entire Skate4Cancer community.
12. Nick Crewen (2011-05-18). "Skate4Cancer's Rob Dyer's New Cause: The Dream Love Cure Centre". Samaritan magazine. Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2017-02-04. Last year, Dyer took his Skate4Cancer cause outside North American borders for the first time, traveling to New Zealand and Australia. He had completed the New Zealand leg and was midway through Australia when tragedy struck.
13. Jared Story (2013-05-23). "The Lytics, Mise En Scene and more raise awareness with Skate4Cancer Winnipeg". Metro News Winnipeg. Archived from the original on 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2017-02-04. Skate4Cancer is a non-profit organization formed in 2003 by Rob Dyer. After losing multiple loved ones to cancer in a matter of months — including his mother and best friend — Dyer decided to skate from his Newmarket, Ont. home to Los Angeles to raise awareness of the deadly disease.
14. "An Update from the S4C Team". dream love cure. 2014-04-30.