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Everyone has been affected by cancer in some way, and this resonates with the Honor Movers Team. On Fridays team members wear pink shirts to identify breast cancer awareness. A portion of the day’s proceeds are donated at the end of the year to an organization that focuses on cancer advocacy.
This past year, the Honor Movers Team raised $2,500 and owner David Lavoie matched it for a donation total of $5,000. It was recently presented to Hale YMCA’s Road to Wellness fund-raising event to help fund Hale YMCA programs like Livestrong, a 12-week program designed to help community survivors improve their strength and overall quality of life. The program has helped hundreds of local cancer survivors on their road to wellness.
Amanda Kelly, Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center executive director, said: “We are so grateful to Honor Movers for their donation to the Hale YMCA’s LiveSTRONG at the YMCA cancer survivor program. The $5,000 donation was made directly to the program’s endowment, which not only supports the participants currently going through the program but will support the program for generations to come. This 12-week program is offered at no cost to any adult, and their support person, with a cancer diagnosis. We see a range of participants from newly diagnosed to years in remission. This contribution from Honor Movers will financially support two participants per year for the future of the program!”
Honor Movers’ Lavoie said: “I started Honor Movers in 2018 to offer a service to the community that was not readily available. In 2021, I was in the process of ordering more uniform T-shirts for the team and asked for their input on the design. My son, Collin, who is currently running my teams on moves, suggested we wear pink on Fridays. I said ok but why? He said that our family has been affected by breast cancer and he wanted to be part of Breast Cancer Awareness. This conversation spawned into the team donating a portion of the move proceeds on Fridays to a local organization that supports cancer awareness. And ‘Pink Fridays’ took off. We wanted to keep it local but couldn’t decide on an organization that was a match. I’m an active member of the Hale YMCA and while participating in the 2022 Spinathon and listening to the stories of cancer survivors I was so moved that I knew this was the organization we wanted to support. After the event finished, I approached Jen Looney, Senior program director, and told her what I was proposing. Jen instantly started to tear up and brought me over to Amanda Kelly, executive director, and I got the same exact response from Amanda. Their reactions confirmed this was the right decision.”
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