Giving Back

HairMassacure, by Doris Gooding, Russell Reception, Feb 20, 2014

The HairMassacure is a fundraising event which began in 2002 by the MacDonald family as a way to support their youngest daughter, Kali, through her fight with cancer and the hair loss as a result of the chemotherapy. The first head shave was on February 14, 2003 at Canada Post, where Kali’s father, Gordon, worked. It had 48 victims and raised $37,000 for the “Kids with Cancer Society”.

The event has evolved over the years to include the dying of hair to a “Kali Pink” in January with the head shave in February as well as changing the recipients of the fundraising efforts to include the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, Make-A-Wish Northern Alberta and Ronald McDonald House.

My brother, Paul Liimatainen, started dying his hair pink and raising money for the HairMassacure in 2008 and his fundraising efforts are in conjunction with his team which goes under the name of “Paul and Friends”. I was able to convince my son, John, to join “Paul and Friends” in 2010 and he proudly pinks and shaves his hair.

While I do pink my hair, I decided against doing the head shave and instead offered to hold a chili lunch in the small town of Ardrossan where we live. This way John could have his head shaved with the help of his friends. This was the fourth year for this lunch and we have outgrown 2 venues and we are hoping it continues to grow in popularity. When I first made the offer, I couldn’t imagine cooking chili for 200 people but it looks like this is where we are headed. We couldn’t do it without the help of friends and family and every year we have more people willing to help with the lunch as well as be ‘victims’.

The first year we had 2 heads to shave, John and Paul, and in 2014 we had 14 willing ‘victims’. It seems like everyone has a great time and you would be hard pressed to find a better cause then fighting cancer in children. It looks like this year’s lunch fundraising efforts alone have brought in over $10,000.00 and the team’s amount is just over $26,000.00.

I am proud to say that my brother and his team of “Paul and Friends” have raised over $200,000.00 since 2008. 

Doris is at left in front row of photo which shows the pinked heads before they were shaved.  

Way to go, Paul's and Friends!

February 14, 2014

Dave and Julie Russell supported their Grand-Daughter Denise (right); Great Grand-Daughter Magen (centre) and Denise's husband Randy (RJ)...(on the left) when they declared that they would shave their heads on Valentine's Day to raise funds for Cancer Research through the "Hair Massacure" at West Edmonton Mall.

The family team raised $4200.00 themselves        

As you can read below, there is a long history of "giving back" at Russell. Many of the staff participate in gathering funds for charities through sale of tickets, direct house-to-house solicitations, cooking of crepes, selling cookies and participation in fun runs and cycling events.

The shaving of the head has a double message: many cancer patients lose their hair during chemo or radiation treatment, and it takes months for the hair to grow back, so the circle of friends and family of the participant is constantly reminded about how important it is that we conquer cancer for good!

For more info on what charities the Hair Massacure supports, follow the link above.

June 23, 2013

Jake Regala is a data analyst for Russell subsidiary, PICA Corp.

Just as he did last year, Jake and his wife Sylvie decided to give back by riding 100km to support kids with special needs.

Russell and PICA staff cheered them on and supported their efforts with cash donations.

"Sylvie and I would like to thank you for your generosity in donating towards our 100km fundraiser ride for kids with special needs. We had an amazing ride on Sunday, June 23.

The weather was perfect, albeit a bit warm and humid, and the scenery through the York Region countryside was breathtaking (literally... thanks to the numerous hills we had to climb).

With your donations, we managed to raise a total of $1575. Wow!!!

Way to go Jake and Sylvie!

May 31, 2013

Derek Brent manages the manufacturing department for Russell NDE. He is involved with virtrually every product line and manages the assembly, calibration and testing of products such as the Ferroscope, See Snake, HydraSnake and VertiScan robot etc.

Derek is another cycling enthusiast, and often cycles to work whenever the weather allows. This year, as in 2012, he decided to raise funds for cancer research by riding in the Banff marathon.

Russell staff participated with encouragement and cash.

Derek, is on the left in the photo.

May 15, 2013

Carrie Williams who manages safety training for Russell staff has two daughters: Jalyn and Jazmin, who are 11 and 9 resp. When they heard that people were shaving their heads to support cancer research, they were eager to participate. This was prompted to some degree by their piano teacher and friend, Janie, who is a cancer survivor herself.

Jalyn and Jazmin not only had their heads shaved, but also performed a song each in front of dozens of cancer survivors, friends and family in front of Festival Place in Sherwood Park.

They were cheered on and supportedby other family members including grandparents, Dave and Julie Russell.

In total, they raised $1,500 for the cause. Way to go girls!

June 2013

Colin Russell: CGSB Radiography Auditor

Little Warriors is a national charitable organization, based in Canada, focusing on the education and prevention of child sexual abuse. Little Warriors teaches adults how to help prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.

We always have a great time and everyone is so friendly from the moment you show up to the moment you leave. There's always a free steak dinner and silent auction at the end of the ride plus some great prizes to be won.

Little Warriors' vision is to build the first of its kind treatment centre for children, the Little Warriors Be Brave Ranch. Let's help them get there, you can donate or read more info at http://littlewarriors.ca/

2012 post

Colin Russell, Radiographer

When my wife Katrina (right side opposite) and I found out that a hospital in Mexico was in dire need of simple medical supplies we hooked up with an Edmonton charity that supplied us with 3 full suitcases of medicine and supplies. We used our flight points and flew to Mexico the next day.

They were very thankful and we could see our small donation was going to go a long ways for them. Now every time we book a vacation we beg, borrow and buy school and medical supplies for those who need it most.

June 13, 2009

Colin Russell, Radiographer:

My absolute favorite ride every year is The 'Ride for Dad'. Lets face it men don't get their prostates checked out by the doctors until its way too late, if you are 40+ talk to your doctor and ask about modern prostrate cancer screening techniques (a simple blood test).

The mission of the Ride For Dad is to raise funds to save men’s lives by supporting prostate cancer research and raising public awareness of the disease.

Funds are raised through a large scale one-day motorcycle ride event, and through ongoing public fundraising throughout the year. Ride For Dad events take place in 30 major cities across Canada, representing every Canadian province.

More info about this ride can be found at http://www.motorcycleridefordad.org/

In 2008 the Edmonton Motorcycle Toy Run turned a quarter of a century old on 28 September 2008. The attendance that year was estimated at between 5000 to 6000 motorcycles at Capilano Mall, and 3700 riders actually rode the route to Hawrelak Park.

This is one ride I look forward to doing every year due to the amount of exposure we get for Santa's Anonymous and the truck loads of new toys that are donated every year! I don't know what brings more of a smile to my face... the actual ride or the hundreds of kids who got presents at Christmas time who actually expected to get nothing.

July 2013

Micheal Redenbach

Micheal Redenbach is a Foreign Service Officer with Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development in Ottawa and was previously posted overseas in Singapore.  Outside of work, Michael is an avid long-distance cyclist and he has blended his passion for cycling with fundraising, in an effort to help those in need. 

His annual cycling fundraisers have raised over $75,000 for those less fortunate individuals who have been affected by catastrophic natural disasters or afflicted by tragic diseases.  Michael raises funds for the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian Mental Health Association, Prostate Cancer Canada and the Singapore Red Cross Society.

His cycling fundraisers have included a two-day Cycle Around Singapore ride, a 900 km trip from Niagara Falls to Ottawa, a Tour de Gatineau Park ride and this year's 1,200 km cycling odyssey from Ottawa to Washington, D.C.

Russell NDE has enjoyed a working relationship with Micheal and have supported him on several rides over the past few years.

In the photo above Micheal is in the centre. This was taken in July 2013 on his ride from Ottawa to Washington