LifeLabs Continues Sponsorship of Canadian Cancer Society's Relay For Life

Toronto, ON (June 6, 2008) -- LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services is proud to announce its continued support for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.

Relay For Life is an overnight non-competitive relay that involves teams of 10 people who raise money through pledges for walking or running around a track for 12-consecutive hours. Funds raised help the Canadian Cancer Society:

support promising research projects,
provide information services and support programs,
advocate for public policies that prevent cancer, and
assist those living with the disease.

Relay For Life events take place in hundreds of communities across Canada from May to October.

LifeLabs is the Founding Sponsor for this national fundraising event and has been an active supporter of Relay For Life since 2000. Over the years, LifeLabs and its employees, together with family and friends, have formed dozens of Relay teams in communities across Canada and raised over $1 million to support the work of the Canadian Cancer Society.

“Our ongoing commitment to this event ensures the continuation of a great tradition under our new LifeLabs banner,” says Hans Thunem, President and CEO of LifeLabs. This year, LifeLabs employees will participate in more than 25 community events in British Columbia, Ontario and Québec.

“Relay For Life continues to be a great success because of corporate supporters like LifeLabs and their dedicated employees,” says Barbara Whylie, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Cancer Society.  “Relay offers participants a time to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost and fight back to beat this terrible disease. Funds raised through this meaningful event help us move closer to our goal of a day when no Canadian need fear cancer.”

Like so many other Relay For Life participants, Terry Long, a LifeLabs employee from Burlington, Ontario has personal reasons for supporting the event. “The first time I participated in Relay was in support of a co-worker. Between signing up and participating, my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer. She died a month before my second Relay, in which I participated as a celebration of her life,” recalls Long.

“Today, Relay has become a tradition that I share with my daughter. It is like a reunion. I reconnect with other participants and receive support from my co-workers. Now I feel like I walk to honour everyone who has lost someone to cancer,” she adds.

“Our involvement in Relay For Life is another example of the LifeLabs Vision in action. As a caring organization, with first hand knowledge of the devastating impact of cancer, we decided eight years ago to take action against this disease by joining the Canadian Cancer Society in the fight to eradicate cancer,” adds Thunem. “Relay is the national cause that unites us and enables all LifeLabs employees to positively impact cancer research and prevention efforts in every community where we operate.”

Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada. Based on current rates, almost 40% of Canadian women and almost 45% of Canadian men will develop cancer at some point in their lives. LifeLabs is a major supporter of Cancer-related causes and, through its testing expertise, contributes to Cancer prevention initiatives, including ColonCancerCheck, a provincial screening program designed to detect colorectal cancer at an early asymptomatic stage, thereby reducing the rate of mortality. LifeLabs supports ColonCancerCheck through the provision of Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) collection kits to physicians and pharmacists, the testing of FOBT kits and the delivery of test results.

For a list of Relay For Life event locations and dates across Canada this year, visit www.cancer.ca/relay.

About LifeLabs:

LifeLabs, provides laboratory testing services, which help physicians and other healthcare professionals diagnose, treat, monitor and prevent illness in patients. LifeLabs employs more than 3000 professionally trained staff, who deliver more than 50 million laboratory tests annually to over 10 million patients and nearly 20,000 physician customers. LifeLabs has operated in Canada for nearly 50 years. For information, visit www.lifelabs.com.

About the Canadian Cancer Society:

The Canadian Cancer Society is a national community based organization of volunteers whose mission is the eradication of cancer and the enhancement of the quality of life of people living with cancer.  When you want to know more about cancer, visit www.cancer.ca or call the Society’s toll-free bilingual Cancer Information Service at 1 888 939-3333.
 

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