The electric clippers sheared the last pieces of hair from Professor Will Huggon’s beard last Friday afternoon, two days before Mississauga’s annual Run for the Cure.
Although it was a chilly Sunday morning, the event had over 2,600 participants. As of Sunday afternoon, over $600,000 had been raised across the city.
Huggon and his brother Tim celebrated the achievement of UTM having raised over $15,000 by having their heads and beards shaved in front of a small group.
Debby Keown and Helen Filipe, the co-chairs of Mississauga’s Run for the Cure, were delighted by Sunday’s turnout and the support from the UTM community, including 50 student volunteers who facilitated the event.
“Cancer is certainly one of those great equalizers—it hits everyone and affects us all equally, whether faculty, staff, or students,” Keown said on Sunday morning. “What is so wonderful about today is that everyone has come out to fight back—we come together as one to do something about this horrible disease.
“It may be a while before we find a cure, but we can certainly provide the funds needed to make patients’ lives a bit more comfortable and even extend [them] for years.”
Keown added that UTM was among the top two universities in fundraising. Team UTM comprised over 140 students, staff, and faculty, including Principal Deep Saini.
Primarily sponsored by the CIBC, Run for the Cure is a national fundraiser for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and takes place on the first Sunday of each October at 66 sites across Canada. Teams or individuals can walk one kilometre or run five around the route, wearing pink ribbons and wigs in honour of sufferers of the disease.
Sunday marked the fifth year that UTM has hosted the run since it became the city of Mississauga’s official site for the event in 2010.
