Two high-profile Prince George residents are heading up the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay For Life Dream Team in B.C.
Brent Marshall and Sarah Trottier are the first of up to 10 individuals who will form this province-wide team.
The Dream Team concept originated in Nova Scotia and is being introduced in B.C. for the first time. The idea is to bring community and business leaders together with one common goal: fighting cancer.
Each leader on the team commits to raising $5,000 to support Relay For Life. In B.C., the Dream Team will have until Dec. 31 to raise these funds.
Any money raised by Trottier and Marshall will be credited towards Prince George's 2014 Relay For Life, which was held in May and to date has brought in more than $557,000. Their contributions could help to secure Prince George's spot as the top relay in all of the country.
Marshall, president of the Northland Auto Group for the last nine years, said becoming a Dream Team member was a natural fit given his passion for supporting the cause and his experience with several family members, friends and colleagues being affected by cancer.
"I've committed to ensuring the Prince George Relay hits the $600,000 mark this year and to being number one in Canada and it's an honour to be a part of this Dream Team to help achieve that goal while also helping others," Marshall said. "My goal - in both my personal and business life - is to help those in need and cancer is a cause close to my heart. I want to stop this terrible disease."
Trottier - who has also had relatives, friends and colleagues affected by cancer - is branch manager for BMO Bank of Montreal's main office in Prince George.
She attended her first Relay For Life in 2006 and was so moved by the passion and excitement of the event that she knew she wanted to become more involved.
"I believe it is our duty as a society to pull together within our communities and join forces whenever possible to help raise money for cancer research," Trottier said. "Many of us will be impacted by this disease directly, indirectly or both and we have a collective responsibility to work towards a solution."
All donations to Marshall and Trottier's campaigns will be designated for brain cancer research and will be matched dollar for dollar by Brain Canada.
Donations to Marshall and Trottier can be made by visiting relayforlife.ca/dreamteam.
