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12 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 27, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Bladers powering up for b.r.a.i.n.child By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Imagine kissing your child's face for the last time and letting cancer take them. John Howlett and Brad Langfield can't. They may have been the powerhouses behind taking Bunzl Canada from the ground up, but they only had to hear Oakville resident Kathy Douthart's story of doing just that to be reduced to tears. "I couldn't even read it. I had to turn away, get the tears out of my eyes and then go back to it," said Howlett, a father of four and senior vicepresident of Bunzl Canada. This weekend, the duo is powering up to inline skate from Niagara Falls to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. The 150-km trek that's expected to raise $60,000 is called Blading for b.r.a.i.n.child -- the charity Douthart founded after losing her son Christopher to a brain tumour at the tender age of seven. That's because the duo -- and everyone else at Bunzl Canada, which makes its head office home on the South Service Road in west Oakville -- is behind b.r.a.i.n.child our biggest event of the year! LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER BLADING TREK: John Howlett, senior vice president and Brad Langfield, national accounts manager of Bunzl Canada, will blade from Niagara Falls to Toronto this weekend to raise money for b.r.a.i.n.child, research into brain tumors in children. (brain tumor research assistance and information network) -- in a big way. For the last eight years, Bunzl Canada has hosted the Ripple of Hope Golf Tournament to raise money for b.r.a.i.n.child. The tournament was dubbed Ripple of Hope after Douthart spoke at a fundraising dinner and challenged people to do what they could to create a ripple of hope. It was nearly a decade ago that a woman stopped in to see Howlett, a Burlington native and resident, about a fundraising dinner called Rigatoni for Research. Howlett purchased two tables. When he later came across Douthart's story, dubbed A Mother's Story, he said, "I realized that woman was the woman who'd been in my office." "August 30, 1997. A warm $ lla® Product Each Installed Pe 75 or OFF 1 Get a FREE Pella Savings Card CAREER SERVICES at Find out more at www.thecentre.on.ca Employment Ontario programs are funded in part by the Government of Canada No Payments and No Interest until 2008! 2 Receive your savings card by scheduling an in-home consultation. Call, stop by or visit www.ontario.pella.com today! 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Offer ends 08/31/07. © 2007 Pella Corporation 2 Find your career focus at career explorations For more information, call 905-276-6336, ext. 101 33 City Centre Drive, Suite 201, in Mississauga day I hold my seven-year-old son, Christopher, in my arms and gently kiss his sweet face for the last time. What I would not give to hear the sweet sound of his voice again," begins Douthart's story. "My heart feels broken. I struggle each day to find meaningful ways to commemorate and honour my son's short yet powerful life. Christopher's legacy will live on in all my endeavours until the day when we can be together again," ends her story. Christopher passed away with a brain tumour in August 1997. Douthart founded b.r.a.i.n.child. The charity raises funds to support the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre located at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, that works to find a cure. After that fundraising dinner, over the past eight years Bunzl Canada has raised about $675,000 with its charity golf tournament held at Greystone in Milton every July 10. It will be held there again this year on July 10. Howlett said it was last fall that he was thinking how more could be accomplished. As he bladed along a waterfront trail in Burlington, he said he looked up -- and his train of thought literally followed his gaze, which had fallen on the CN Tower and Toronto, home to the Hospital for Sick Children. That's when he brought long-time blading buddy and Bunzl Canada's National Accounts Manager Brad Langfield of Georgetown into his plan. Howlett's daughter Courtney Howlett, 22, and National Accounts employee Michelle Fletcher, then began to organize -- as they do for the annual golf tournament. Langfield and Howlett will blade from Niagara Falls to Toronto. They'll begin at 8 a.m. Friday, at The Horseshoe Falls. They'll cover 50 km each day before heading to a reception Friday and Saturday evening at Emma's Back Porch in Burlington, event sponsor. Sporting Life is providing the equipment for the trek. "You couldn't just do this in your old skates," said Howlett who has been blading since the sport first took off. They'll leave Emma's Back Porch early Sunday, roll through Oakville -- Trafalgar and Lakeshore around 9:30 or 10 a.m. -- and expect to be at the Hospital for Sick Children by late Sunday afternoon. In a letter appealing to the Bunzl Canada family for support, Howlett's wife Leanne explained b.r.a.i.n.child is a group of parents, families and friends of those affected by brain tumors in children who work together to support those in dealing with this terrible disease as well as to raise funds for the research centre. One of the most common types of brain tumors found in children is called medulloblastoma. The terminal disease is a cancerous tumor that starts in the brain and eventually spreads throughout the body. The children afflicted do not typically live past age 12. Brain tumours are the second most common cancer in children after leukemia. Howlett explains Bunzl Canada supports b.r.a.i.n.child as a means of giving back to the local community. "Big companies like ours conduct themselves by their core values. It's important for us to participate in the communities in which we exist and not just exist there," said Howlett. Langfield said while the funds raised are important, the awareness created by such events are critical. While the two admit they'll likely be joined by others, besides their police escorts, en route this weekend, they're hoping the blading event will grow larger in scale next year. They're also hoping that others will get involved in the fundraising effort. Bunzl Canada has 12 locations across Canada and Bunzl operates in the United Kingdom and United States. The Canadian operation employs 358 people nationally and 87 in Oakville. Howlett said its head office is here because this is a good location for head offices, the employment pool here had good people to offer and the location of Oakville allows Bunzl to service across Ontario. It's a distribution service business. For information about b.r.a.i.n.child visit www.sickkids.ca/brainchild. To donate to Blading for b.r.a.i.n.child, call The Hospital for Sick Children at 416-8135320, visit www.sickkids-foundation.com (click on donate now/one-time donation/reference Blading for b.r.a.i.n.child event code O8ETOBUN-BFB in comments section, mail Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave., Toronto ON M5G 1X8 or call Bunzl Canada at 905-827-7300.