Around 27 people are diagnosed with brain tumours every day in Canada, being 8 of those malignant. To raise awareness to those shocking numbers, the House of Commons instituted the Brain Cancer Awareness Day, which happens on October 24th in Canada. The movement Hats for Hope supports brain tumour victims by performing the annual sale of thematic toques. Check it out and make your donation!
Hats for Hope is a non-profit movement intended to raise awareness and funds to help people suffering from brain tumours in Canada. Therefore, since 2018, every year on October 24th, people all across the country put on their hats to support Brain Cancer Awareness Day. Envisioned by the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada – a group of dedicated volunteers, health care professionals, patients, survivors, and their family members – the sale of thousands of themed toques happens since 2019, to gather hope and money for this important movement.
According to the Brain Tumour Foundation, every day 27 people are diagnosed with brain tumours in Canada and 8 out of those people’s tumours are cancer. For this reason, bringing awareness to such devastating illness is imperative. People are encouraged to post pictures on October 24th and during the International Brain Tumour Awareness Week – from October 30th to November 6th – wearing their Hats for Hope toques all over social media using the #HatsforHope and tagging the @BrainTumourFdn, in order to spread the campaign.
Photo Credit: Brain Tumour.ca
Among people who contributed to Hats for Hope this year, some celebrities, TV personalities, sports players, and influencers made sure to do their parts. To begin with, the 18-year-old Canadian influencer and singer Vivian Hicks – who has over 315K followers on Instagram and 1M on TikTok – was the face of this year’s campaign. Alongside her grandmother – who unfortunately lost the battle against stage 4 brain cancer recently – she posted several pictures on her social media platforms asking people to support the movement by purchasing toques. Canadian country singers Brett Kissel and Alli Walker also participated in the campaign by posting pictures of themselves wearing the Hats for Hope toques to their 133K and 15,6K followers on Instagram respectively.
Moreover, comedian Stewart Reynolds shared his photo on Instagram to his 30,7K followers, and astronaut Chris Hadfield posted a picture to his 373K Instagram followers. Actor Salvatore Antonio (17,9K followers on Instagram) and TV hosts Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and Ross Hull (115K and over 4,000 followers on Instagram) also contributed to the campaign.
Photo Credit: Twitter
Ice dancer and Lululemon ambassador Piper Gilles shared with her 29,7K followers not only an Instagram story promoting the Hats for Hope campaign but also her personal story of how she lost her mother to brain cancer in 2018. Other sports players supporting Brain Cancer Awareness Day are gymnast Ellie Black (77,7K followers on Instagram) and 400 meters hurdles competitor Sarah Wells (21,1K followers on Instagram). Finally, members of the curling team Kaitlyn Lawes (24K followers on Instagram), Jennifer Jones (over 3,000 followers on Instagram), and Lisa Weagle (10,9K followers on Instagram) also participated in the Hats for Hope movement.
Photo Credit: Brain Tumour.ca
There is always still time to do your share of contribution and help bring hope to people suffering from brain tumours. You can donate to the cause here and purchase your Hat for Hope toque here.
Published by HOLR Magazine.