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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, January 29, 2010 · 14 Cancer Society now shares a new home By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Two old friends and one a little younger, are teaming up to fight cancer. The historied Oakville and Burlington/Milton units of the Canadian Cancer Society officially began a new chapter last week as they merged to work out of one office. Now located at 760 Pacific Rd., Unit 7, near the Oakville/Burlington boundary, the new office offers a newer and larger setting from which to offer services to local cancer patients and co-ordinate fundraising efforts. The Milton unit had already been operating with the Burlington unit for some time. "Nothing will be different," said Sharon Burns, manager of the new Burlington/Milton/Oakville Unit. "We will be offering the same services and doing the same fundraisers in all three communities," said Burns, noting it will simply save costs by doing it out of one office. Set just east of Bronte Road and south of the QEW, the new office boasts more than 2,000 square feet in MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER TEAMING UP: Joan Gibb, volunteer president of the Canadian Cancer Society, Oakville and president of Burlington unit, John Lubert, cut a ribbon during the opening of the new Burlington/Oakville Unit office. office space and a similar amount in storage -- which has its staff (the combined staffers of the two former units) -- smiling. Not only are there new offices -- painted in the bright and familiarly symbolic Cancer Society yellow -- but storage space, and bay doors, that will prove more than helpful in relation to fundraisers like the annual daffodil campaign, Relay for Life events and more. It will be even more helpful as three daffodil campaigns and a trio of Relay fundraisers are run out of the office, which Burns said will act as a hub of operations. There was standing room only as clients, volunteers, supporters and local officials -- along with representatives from the Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division -- were on hand for the official ribbon cutting last Thursday. "Two wonderful units are able to come together in a new space and bring all their resources together," said Sylvia Leonard, vice-president of community engagement for the Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division. According to Leonard, the Burlington Unit had its beginnings in the 1940s. Like the Oakville Unit, both were born out of meetings when residents in the community gathered around kitchen tables and in living rooms to form. The first Burlington office was located on Pearl Street, just off Brant Street, in the 1950s. It later moved to share space with the Red Cross at Guelph Line and Lakeshore Road, made its home atop Parkers Cleaners and then moved to Northside Road. With more than 1,500 volunteers, the Burlington Unit has now joined with Oakville's, which was founded in the Rosemary Lane living room of Jean Smith in 1957. It, too, had many homes, including at the top of 18 stairs above the TD Bank in downtown Oakville, near the former CUNA Credit Union office on Lakeshore Road and, most recently, in a plaza on Fourth Line, just south of Speers Road. Leonard said the two units have raised more than $2.2 million over the past year. The Oakville, Milton and Burlington communities raised more than $1.1 million in revenue in last year's Relay for Life events. The units' volunteer drivers logged more than 300,000 km in driving cancer patients to and from treatments and appointments. "We are all one now here and we look forward to working with you," said Oakville Unit volunteer president Joan Gibb, a long-time Oakville Unit volunteer. See Services page 16 Renovate · Decorate · Celebrate U U Time is Precious, Mistakes are Costly and Decorating is complicated. U U U U U U U U U U U U U Inquire about your Personal Design Consultation At Fitz by Design we are committed to creating breathtaking, functional spaces that are unique as the individuals living in them.