BY SHELLEY MCLEAN
– Special to the Ottawa Construction News
Building a solid foundation ensures that, over the years, your structure remains strong. Boone Plumbing and Heating Supply is part of The Ride’s solid foundation.
As a founding partner of The Ride, The Ottawa Hospital’s premier cycling event, Boone has helped it become one of the most successful, single day cancer fundraisers in Eastern Ontario. In the past six years, it has raised more than $10 million for cancer research.
Boone continues to be an integral part of the event, not only as a sponsor, but also by bringing together a team of dedicated riders each year in support of cancer research. While Claude Des Rosiers, vice president and general manager of Boone Plumbing and Heating Supply, was a key player in creating this event, his younger brother, Luc Des Rosiers, is team captain of the Boone Flushers.
Luc says Boone is proud to partner with The Ride. “Our employees are committed to the cause and strongly feel that our involvement and contribution will help save lives in the future. Every year we are touched by someone close to us who is diagnosed with this devastating disease, which is why we so strongly support this worthy cause. We understand that the most important weapon in the fight against cancer is research.”
While Boone has been an integral part of The Ride from the beginning, Luc is emphatic about ensuring other businesses in the community understand the cause. “We [the businesses] must continue to support the cancer research done at The Ottawa Hospital, as they [the researchers] are making a huge difference in the effort to find a cure.”
With that in mind, Luc would like to see more companies get involved. “We challenge all other businesses in the community to get a team together and to participate in the most fun and important fundraising event of the year!”
The Boone Flushers team is well on its way to reaching its goal of $30,000. In fact, Luc sits at the top of The Ride leaderboard for individual fundraisers. He’s motivated because that money is directly funneled to cancer research at The Ottawa Hospital and projects in which laboratory scientists and clinicians are working together every day to develop the next generation of therapies, which will be customized to each patient and won’t have the traditional side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
Money raised from The Ride will also help fund the more than 200 cancer related clinical trials underway at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre and another 140 research projects at The Ottawa Hospital happening right now.
For Dr. Jack Kitts, president and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital, local cancer research is vital. “The world is watching us and someday, hopefully in the near future, we’re going to look back and say, we helped pave the way for that elusive cure for cancer,” he says.
Join The Ride on September 11, 2016 – DoTheRide.ca.
