Our Purpose

Albertans helping Albertans is at the core of everything the Alberta Cancer Foundation does. Our very purpose comes from our desire to create more moments for all Albertans facing cancer, no matter where they live or the type of cancer they are facing. From the Canmore mountains to the canola fields in Lloydminster – we support leading edge treatment, care and research that is making a difference for cancer patients across the province.

As the fundraising partner for the 17 Alberta Health Services cancer centres, as well as the new Calgary Cancer Centre (alongside the University of Calgary), we make life better for Albertans facing cancer by supporting world-class research and patient care, right here in our own backyard. But, we can’t do it alone. It takes a village. One that includes the generosity of donors who support innovation in cancer detection, treatment and care, across the province. Such gifts support patients whose cancer journey has put them in a financial bind, and others who have run out of all other treatment options and are turning to a clinical trial as a last resort, a last hope. The list goes on and on. The impact is immeasurable.

In the very simplest form, the Alberta Cancer Foundation is about Albertans helping Albertans. It’s about ensuring we can provide the very best care, close to home so that every cancer patient can focus on what matters most: healing. But, we need your support. Help us achieve our vision of a cancer-free future today by making a gift today.

 

The Impact

As a donor to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, you’re not only supporting advancements in cancer treatment and care, you’re giving time back to patients. Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days. Years. They add up. And so do the moments that accompany them. Here are just a few ways a gift can help support patients across the province:

 

Campaigns

We recently launched, not one but two, once-in-a-generation fundraising campaigns. In the first, the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the University of Calgary are leading OWN.CANCER in support of the new Calgary Cancer Centre, soon to be one of the largest and most comprehensive cancer centres in North America.

The second, We Cross Cancer, supports ongoing research at the Cross Cancer Institute, already a national leader in ground-breaking research, cutting-edge clinical trials and home to some of the most curious and compassionate medical minds in the world.

Together, these two campaigns will help establish Alberta’s role as an international leader in cancer care, research, and innovation. Above all, these campaigns will help to transform the way cancer is prevented, detected, and treated here in Alberta and beyond.

 

Urgent Needs

With one in two Albertans being diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and one in four not surviving, we are often asked, “How can I help?”

From becoming a monthly donor, to holding a fundraising event, to making a major gift or leaving a gift in your will, there are many different ways to give – to help. Regardless of the type of gift you choose to make, the most impactful way to support Albertans facing cancer is by donating to our Urgent Needs fund.

What does this mean? Simply put, undesignated funds allow the Alberta Cancer Foundation to remain flexible in a world full of change. These funds can provide immediate impact by allowing us to respond to what cancer patients need today rather than having to wait for fundraising campaigns to be completed tomorrow. After all, new cancer treatments, research, support systems and ideas are being developed every single day. And, Albertans deserve access to the very best in treatment and care, close to home, as soon as it is available. Because, with cancer, every moment counts and everything we do, we do with one goal in mind: to create more moments for Albertans facing cancer.

Your support of our Urgent Needs fund will allow us to respond quickly when cutting edge research comes to light or when costly equipment must be replaced at each of the 17 cancer centres across the province. Such gifts support patients whose cancer journey has put them in a financial bind, and others who have run out of all other treatment options and are turning to a clinical trial as a last resort, a last hope.

Because, as the past few years have highlighted, you never know what tomorrow will bring. But, what we do know is that a gift to our Urgent Needs fund will provide us with the agility to better help Albertans facing cancer and move us one step closer to a cancer-free future.

 

Patient Financial Assistance Program

Cancer can have a huge strain on finances. Traveling to treatments, time away from work, and paying ‘out of pocket’ for medication often leaves patients choosing between their most basic needs. Sadly, some even choose to opt out of treatment because they simply cannot afford the financial burden.

The Alberta Cancer Foundations’ Patient Financial Assistance Program is available to financially support Albertans facing cancer. Expenses might include rent or mortgage payments, groceries, medications not covered by insurance, utilities, and accommodation for those traveling out of their home town for long term treatment. Last year, the Patient Financial Assistance Program was accessed nearly 6,000 times by families across Alberta, and the need continues to increase. With the support of the Patient Financial Assistance Program, Albertan families can focus on healing rather than making ends meet when faced with a cancer diagnosis.

Your support of the Patient Financial Assistance Program will allow us to continue to support Albertans through their cancer journeys by easing the financial burden.

 

Patient Navigation Program

Facing a cancer diagnosis comes with many challenges. For those patients and families in rural Alberta who hear the words, “you have cancer,” navigating an often-complex health-care system adds a new layer of difficulties. How do they co-ordinate care between their local cancer centre with one in a bigger city? Is there a social worker available to talk about sensitive issues that will surely emerge? What if they need rehabilitation after a cancer surgery or treatment? At times, the questions are endless.

The Patient Navigation Program is a provincial program supporting 15 regional and community cancer centres across Alberta. Patient navigation staff are registered nurses with specialized training in cancer care, helping to walk rural patients through the health system and provide assistance in accessing resources and community supports, close to home. The program has also expanded to meet the unique needs of adolescent and young adults, and Indigenous people.

With your support, we can continue to offer this important program to Albertans across the province, and improve inclusive and equitable care for patients and their families facing cancer.

 

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are bringing the treatments of tomorrow to those facing cancer today. Clinical trials advance medical knowledge and boost resources for health-care professionals to diagnose patients sooner, treat cancer more effectively, and offer more hope and options to Albertans. Currently, a significant portion of trials in Alberta are immunotherapy-based – using the immune system to attack cancer cells. This has become a game-changing treatment option for many types of cancer.

Supporting clinical trials means that we can provide better treatment for patients while also inviting the research community to ask the big questions. Through our efforts, we aim to further ground-breaking research and enroll more patients in these game-changing trials.

 

Alberta’s Tomorrow Project

What causes cancer and how can we prevent it? Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP), Alberta’s largest health research study, is searching for answers and aims to support improved treatment options and outcomes now, and for future generations.

For the next 50 years, ATP is following the health of 55,000 men and women to identify causes and possible preventative factors for cancer and other chronic diseases. Thanks to more than a billion pieces of data and thousands of biological samples, scientists and researchers around the world will be able to explore how lifestyle, genetics, and environment influence health and support innovative research that will help shine a light on the causes of cancer.

Your donation will allow us to continue to support this ground-breaking research and unlock the secrets of preventing and treating cancer.

 

Get Involved

From becoming a monthly donor, to holding a fundraising event, to volunteering, to becoming a sponsor, to making a major gift or leaving a gift in your will, there are many different ways to give – to help.

To learn more about how you can get involved and make difference for cancer patients across the province, please visit albertacancer.ca