David Bloom Memorial Spring Sprint will be May 4 at Professor's Lake in Brampton
April is cancer awareness month

"It just seems like more and more people are being diagnosed with a brain tumour," commented Lawrie Bloom, father of David Bloom, who died at the age of 19 from an inoperable brain tumour.

David passed away April 24, 2001, just 12 days prior to the start of the first Spring Sprint for the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada (BTFC) in Brampton.

"The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada has been a wonderful support for our family and for so many others who are diagnosed with a brain tumour," said Bloom. "Over the years, we have met so many wonderful people and their families who have come to our event. This is just one way of giving back to this great organization."

Since the start of the event, the David Bloom Memorial Spring Sprint (DBMSS) has raised $850,000 to aid BTFC in their work of providing funding for research, education and community support groups. Bloom, who is chairperson of the event said, "our goal this year is to raise $150,000 which will bring our total to $1 million."

The eighth annual DBMSS will be held May 4 at Professor's Lake Recreation centre in Brampton. Registration begins at 9 a.m. A great morning has been planned for the whole family, with free coffee from Second Cup and a huge silent auction for the adults. For the kids, there will be clowns, free balloons and face painting, as well as popcorn, cotton candy and ice cream for a loonie.

Staylefish will have everyone dancing with their unique blend of rock and reggae and DJ Ricky Bionix will be spinning discs.

The guest speaker this year will be Maureen Daniels, coordinator of the Pencer Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital. Her presentation is entitled, Strong Tea - Inspiring Journeys of Strength and Courage.

Lisa Brandt from CFTR will be the master of ceremonies and will introduce the honourary cochairs this year. They are Makayla Perreira, a 10 year old Brampton girl, who organized a fund-raising walk and raised $2,500 for Neuroblastoma Research at Sick Children's Hospital in memory of Aidan Benoit, and Jessica Miller, Miss Brampton 2008, whose father is a survivor of a brain tumour.

After a short warm-up lead by Laura Surman, the co-chairs will start both the three-km walk, jog, sprint around Professor's Lake and the 10-km run along the Professor's Lake Trail.

When everyone returns to the park, there will be live entertainment, a live auction, continuation of the silent auction and a barbecue provided by DaSilva Catering.

There will also be Brain Tumour Foundation Memorabilia for sale. As well, Perry, the Polar Bear will be for sale for $10. He is the mascot for the 2008 David Bloom Memorial Spring Sprint.

All registrants with more than $40 in pledges will receive a t-shirt as well as a gift bag full of goodies from our sponsors.

David graduated from Mayfield Secondary School and had many friends in the Brampton and Caledon area.

"We are reaching out to everyone in the Peel Region area to come and support our event," Bloom said.

For further information or to register, go to the David Bloom Memorial Spring Sprint website at springsprint.com.