Terry Fox, Betty Fox, and Isadore Sharp
By Kathy Keyi Jia-Jones M.A., Cross-Cultural Biz
Terry Fox run has become a fall tradition. Canadians gather their colleagues and friends to run to raise money for cancer research and to commemorate Canadian national hero Terry Fox, who died of cancer in June 1981. This year saw another success, yet it was different. Betty Fox, the mother Terry Fox, died in June. For 30 years after her son’s death, Betty kept her son’s legacy alive by continuing to campaign for “the Terry Fox Run” and raising funds. Betty, like Terry, showed courage and conviction and helped to advance the fight against cancer.
Like many important events, the Annual Terry Fox Run would probably not happen without good strategies and financial support. Isadore Sharp, the director of the National Terry Fox Run, was the master mind. He initiated the corporate sponsorship program supporting the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope in 1980. Isadore Sharp is the founder and chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. He heard Terry Fox was set to run across the country in 1981 and was intrigued. Sharp’s son died of melanoma two years earlier “He (Terry) was setting himself a challenge that was impossible. You look at these people who set goals that are beyond our ability to imagine and it attracts you to them”. He decided to do something. “I tried to help a bit” (Interview with Sandra Martin, The Globe and Mail, Sat. June 18, 2011). He asked the marketing department of Four Seasons to monitor the run. It didn’t go well at the beginning, the report came back: “People are laughing…nobody is taking him seriously”. Isadore put an ad in newspapers and magazines promising that they would contribute a dollar a mile, “if he got as far as Vancouver, that would be $10.000 that we would donate”. And he invited 999 other companies to join the Four Seasons to make it a $10-milion run! (G & M). Terry Fox called Sharp: “I was just ready to quit. I was so dejected, but if one person cares enough, that’s all I need”. The strong support kept Terry Fox going and people realized he was serious. After covering nearly 5,400 kilometers (3,355 miles) in 143 days, Terry Fox suffered a recurrence of bone cancer and had to stop the run. It took one person who cared enough to initiate needed sponsorship and show the way. This is a story of a successful collaboration involving resolve, determination, and strategies. “Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change”—John Kotter
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