Get ready for the annual Rock'N'Roll Marathon! Call to Action VOBOC directors are lacing up their shoes and choosing to make a positive impact in the lives of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. They are putting their soles to the ground and making sure that each of their steps count as they raise money for VOBOC at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, to be held here in Montreal [...]

This summer VOBOC was fortunate to have been awarded a grant from the federal government to hire a student for seven weeks. This important grant was awarded by local Members of Parliament (MP). We would to thank Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia, MP for Lac Saint Louis for this tremendous opportunity. We selected candidate, Alex Tinmouth a long-standing VOBOC volunteer. She readily accepted the opportunity. She was a tremendous help having worked [...]

Smiling at Life A year ago, Ottaviano Rosada and his wife Pina were walking on sunshine. The couple were about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, they were house hunting and about to start a family. Then Ottaviano fell ill. A bout of strep throat in September 2014, prompted the 33-year-old to make a doctor’s appointment for a check-up. The doctor did a routine exam and ordered blood tests. The [...]

While Tristan Williams was battling cancer for the second time at the age of 21, he received VOBOC's Vo-Pak, a backpack filled with tools and resources to help him navigate the cancer journey that was ahead of him. "Little did I know that this backpack would change my life forever. In it were things that reminded me of home. There were pyjamas, a toothbrush and Listerine. And there was a lion, a [...]

VOBOC's Treasure Hunt for Life spokesperson Laura Loebenberg invites the community to join her "Chain of Kindness" to help VOBOC reach more adolescents and young adults with cancer. When Laura was 14 she learned she had a cancerous tumour the size of a baseball growing in her brain. VOBOC helped Laura when she was first diagnosed and has throughout her five year battle with the cancer. Watch her interview below [...]

LaSalle College students help teens and young adults with cancer Alanna Parasuco and some fellow students from the LaSalle College Event Planning Program are lending a helping hand to VOBOC, a charity that has been supporting adolescents and young adults with cancer for over 14 years. The team of five students is gaining a tremendous amount of hands-on experience organizing VOBOC’s annual fundraiser the Treasure Hunt for Life taking place [...]

Join us for VOBOC’s annual signature fundraiser, the 2015 Treasure Hunt for Life event on Saturday, May 23rd from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the beautiful campus provided graciously by John Abbott College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

December 2 is Giving Tuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back to the community! It marks the start of this year’s Giving Season, where communities join forces and rally for favorite causes, giving back to those in need. Join the movement! VOBOC is participating in this year’s Giving Tuesday activities. We need your help to fulfill Last Requests from adolescents or young adults with cancer in palliative care. Unfortunately [...]

A 10-year old’s generous gift and its direct impact on adolescents and young adults with cancer For his 10th birthday Josh asked friends and family to give him money instead of gifts. He wasn’t planning to buy the latest video game, a season pass to La Ronde or a cool pair of running shoes.  Josh wanted to donate his birthday money to Venturing Out Beyond Our Cancer (VOBOC), a foundation [...]

Last week, a medical team contacted us with a Special Request for a patient who had recently been airlifted to a Montreal hospital from the North Shore in Eastern Quebec due to complications with her cancer treatment. The medical team told us that she would have to remain in isolation in Montreal for an undetermined amount of time and was devastated that she would miss spending Christmas with her children. [...]

Last week, we received a special request for 17 year old patient who is facing an advanced cancer. As the holidays are approaching, she really wanted to do something special with her parents and 2 siblings and decided that going to see Cirque du Soleil with her family would be an incredible experience. Thanks to a generous donor, VOBOC was able to provide her with five tickets to go see [...]

Recently, we received a special request for a patient who was in palliative care. He had been wanting to visit with his son but due to mobility issues, could not make the trip to his son’s home. His medical team got in touch with us, asking if we could arrange a medical transport for him. This past weekend, we were able to secure him an ambulance ride to and from [...]

VOBOC recently received a special request from a music loving patient. Unfortunately, due to his chemotherapy treatments, his hearing has been affected and he has had to drop out of a music school because of this new heightened sensitivity to sound. There was however, a way to ensure that he could continue to pursue his passion of percussions: if he could get some quality, sound-minimizing headphones, he could continue to [...]

This month, VOBOC was happy to have been able to grant a special request to a young couple wanting to celebrate their anniversary. The patient was in palliative care and, knowing that she did not have much time left, wanted to celebrate her wedding anniversary at the hotel where they held their wedding. VOBOC was privileged to have made this possible and we want to thank all our donors for [...]

Rainy and chilly weather might be daunting for some, but our amazing supporters and participants were out in full force for the VOBOC Treasure Hunt on May 25th! The day began with volunteers setting up the event and participants arriving to register before the race, all scanning the room at École Margeurite Bourgeoys for any sign of coffee and warily peeking out of the window every now and then to [...]

Thank you to all those who participated in our art contest! The artwork is now featured on our holiday note cards. The proceeds from the sale of these note cards will go towards holiday baskets that VOBOC volunteers deliver to bedridden cancer patients in several hospitals and palliative care residences on the Island of Montreal on December 24. Note card sets (8 note cards with 8 enveloppes) are $10. If [...]

In 2008, Trafalgar became one of the first Montreal schools to participate in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI)). Funded by the Toskan Casale Foundation and TD Bank Financial Group, YPI is a “school-based, community-focused, hands-on program designed to actively engage youth in their communities.” The program is followed by Grade 10 students. Students learn about philanthropy and “best practices” for charitable organizations. By the end of the course, students [...]