One day, Doreen was approached by a nurse named Christine Leblanc. She was concerned about a cancer patient in her oncology unit, a young man, who was 19 years old. She described him as almost homeless. She said that he wasn’t always coming in for his treatments and was in need of some positive changes in his life. He had scraps of paper hanging out of his pockets and a tattered old bag of some kind. Doreen introduced herself to the young man, and they chatted. When asked how things were going, he responded with “Ok, but I hate coming here.” [...]

The Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology Program was set up by McGill University under the direction of oncologist, Dr. Petr Kavan. This emerging cancer population (aged 15-44), was a group Dr. Kavan called “The Lost Tribe”. He named it so because of the uniqueness of this cancer population, their distinct needs and the services that were lacking for them. The AYA McGill Program was designed to meet the unique needs of youth by bringing in specialists and resources to help them through their whole cancer experience.

Following Debbie’s idea, we also asked other people touched by cancer to submit their own works of art. The money raised from selling the note cards went to make holiday baskets for delivery to hospital patients who were too ill to go home for Christmas Eve. This is a service we will proudly provide every year to our partnered hospitals, as well as several palliative care residences. Patients tell us there is such a special feeling when you receive something so beautiful and so unexpected from a perfect stranger.

VOBOC Becomes a registered charitable organization – the first one of its kind in Canada. VOBOC’s mission was to provide all adult cancer patients with the opportunity to take a break from their illness. At the time, we knew we couldn’t change the final outcome for patients – but there was a definite joy and comfort in knowing that we could help patients create their own new memories for themselves as well as their families inside their cancer experience.

Soon after, Doreen stayed laying the foundations of what would become VOBOC. As the idea took shape, dear friends like Josée Legault, Gwen Vineberg, Dr. Ina Cummings, jumped on to form the first board of directors. Dr. Henry Shibata became our medical advisor.