Night of comedy for cancer care

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

For the sixth year in a row, Magical Moms will be bringing The Boob Tour and comedy show to the Strathmore Civic Centre.
Proceeds from the show, which goes tonight (Nov. 4), will go directly to Enhanced Patient Care at both the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary and the Drumheller Community Cancer Centre.
Magical Moms is a group of Strathmore-area women who raise funds to fight cancer and support patients in the area who are undergoing cancer treatments. Patti Van Bavel lives on a farm just outside of Strathmore and is the original member of the group of four women who make up Magical Moms.
“We are just a group of moms that get together for one fundraising goal and that’s to make cancer patients more comfortable now,” she said. “The reason we do it is because we’ve all had someone near and dear to us who we’ve lost, and this is our way of giving back to all those who we’ve lost or those who are fighting.
“Our wish is to make cancer disappear.”
Last year Magical Moms raised $10,000 from The Boob Tour comedy show, and this year it is hoping to match or beat that mark.
The comedians at this year’s show include Cash Levy, Dan Clarke and Alex Fortin from the Los Angeles area.
Magical Moms will work to provide the food, 50/50s and the silent auction for the show.
Van Bavel knows quite a few cancer survivors who are planning on coming.
“It’s a very uplifting night,” she said. “They have fun, they have an evening out and yet they’re still doing something good.”
Van Bavel said cancer survivors look forward to coming to this event.
“It’s not something that constantly reminds them that they’re a cancer survivor or they have cancer,” she said.
The Magical Moms group has known a lot of friends and family that have gone to the hospitals for cancer treatments and have heard feedback stating there has been a shortage of beds for patients requiring chemo treatments. These patients would be more comfortable receiving treatments in a bed.
So in this type of situation, Van Bavel and her group may ask the hospitals to buy beds with monies raised. The group helps direct fundraising efforts to specific patients’ needs.
Van Bavel also cited other examples where funds may be utilized to help patients. For example, some patients go into the hospital and are away from their young children, so in this type of circumstance it is nice to have a laptop or iPad so the patients can Skype with their family.
Van Bavel wants funds to go towards “whatever makes patients happy and whatever the hospital feels that they need for that.”
Prior to starting with The Boob Tour, Van Bavel was the team captain for the Relay for Life team. But when that team stopped coming to Strathmore, James Uloth, who founded The Boob Tour, contacted Van Bavel to ask if she wanted to be a part of the comedy tour.
Originally, the group donated money to the Canadian Cancer Foundation and monies raised went to such things as research and administration costs.
“Now we just donate whatever we raise to patient care and split it between the Drumheller Hospital and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, where the cancer treatment happens,” said Van Bavel.
The Boob Tour is the one and only fundraising event that Magical Moms undertakes.
When the group first started six years ago, it only sold approximately 60 seats and didn’t have enough money to cover the costs of the comedians. But the comedians donated their time because they wanted all money raised to go directly to the group’s fundraising goal.
Magical Moms Patti Van Bavel, Shelly Neal, Amy Hampton and Dallas Stickel promise to deliver a fun night out at the comedy show.
Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the show will start at 8 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door if not sold out prior to the event.
For more information or to donate to the Magical Moms cancer fundraising page, visit albertacancer.ca/magicalmoms.