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15 Mar 2010
The Gazette
SUSAN SCHWARTZ [log in to unmask]
Reaching the peak of epilepsy research
Neurosurgeon scales summit for a cause
Alain Bouthillier, a neurosurgeon at Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de
Montréal, has accomplished a double feat: climbing Mount Aconcagua, the
highest peak of the Andes mountains, as part of a threeweek expedition, and
raising $65,695 for epilepsy research.
CENTRE HOSPITALIER DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL Alain Bouthillier, a
neurosurgeon at Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, and
recovery-room nurse Isabelle Tremblay at the summit of Mount Aconcagua.
On Jan. 23, Bouthillier reached the summit. In ascending the mountain’s
6,692 metres, he joins an elite group of 20 per cent of climbers
participating in the annual expedition who make it to the top.
The undertaking was more than just a sporting challenge for Bouthillier: His
goal was to raise awareness for epilepsy and to help fund research into the
disorder.
Colleagues, patients and the business community joined forces to help make
the fundraising campaign, organized with the CHUM foundation, a success.
Bouthillier is part of a team at CHUM working on the treatment of epilepsy.
He and fellow neurologist Nguyen Dang Khoa are the principal investigators
in a study that headlined the Journal of Neurosurgery last June. The study
examined insular surgery as a means of treating epilepsy patients who do not
respond to medication. An estimated 70,000 Quebecers have epilepsy.
Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Jan. 12, Quebecers have rallied
in myriad ways to help; particularly heartening has been the remarkable show
of support by the province’s student communities.
At Lower Canada College, for instance, students, staff and parents raised
more than $17,800 for Haiti relief. The donations were raised through
student-driven initiatives, with several parents matching funds raised by
their children’s classrooms.
Grade 11 students designed a T-shirt, to be sold to raise more money – and
students decided to organize a clothing drive for the Welcome Hall Mission,
with the idea of helping Haitians who come to Quebec as refugees.
At the two United Talmud Torah elementary schools and their sister Herzliah
high schools, the student councils used all kinds of events – from
dress-down days and cookie sales to food fairs – to raise more than $6,200
for the Haiti relief fund of Federation CJA.
At the Snowdon campus of Herzliah, which raised the most money, the top five
fundraising teams were eligible to take part in an Iron Chef-style
competition. The challenge was to cook, in an hour, the best soup possible
from ingredients including grains, broth, vegetables, pasta and spices.
Student council judges ranked each soup based on originality, presentation
and taste.
At Herzliah’s Beutel campus in St. Laurent, the French department organized
a food fair: students bought crêpes, wraps, desserts, pasta and more that
were offered for sale. At the elementary level, such events as reading
marathons, sales of board games and dress-down days, in which each school
came up with an amount of money it cost to come to school out of uniform,
were embraced by students and parents.
The sum of $250,000 was raised for the Cedars Cancer Institute of the McGill
University Health Centre at the recent Friends for the Cure dinner dance.
Six hundred guests gathered in support of the Cedars Cancer Institute’s
CanSupport program as the Friends for the Cure celebrated their 10th
anniversary at Buffet Amiens Feb. 20 with dinner, dancing, entertainment and
a fundraising raffle that had a trip to Greece as its top prize.
A portion of the money raised will go toward Cedars CanSupport’s project to
renovate the family room on the 17th floor of the Montreal General Hospital,
the oncology floor. The project was spearheaded by Montreal Alouettes
quarterback Anthony Calvillo and his wife, Alexia, who was treated for
cancer at the MUHC. Calvillo donated a $10,000 award he received last year
to the Cedars Cancer Institute.
Friends for the Cure have raised about $1.5 million for the Cedars Cancer
Institute over the past decade.
The second annual Blankfest Quebec event, held in cooperation with the Old
Brewery Mission, collected more than 640 items of clothing for those in
need, including coats, sweaters, shoes and boots, 54 blankets and two
pillows. The event, held last month, featured a rock show showcasing local
Montreal bands Special Ops, Emery Street, Vinyl Hero and the In n Outs.
Blankfest Quebec organizer Jon Asher, a music publicist, is working on the
2011 event and will be taking submissions from Montreal artists and
collaborators interested in participating. Email him at [log in to unmask]
or call 514-581-5780.
When we’re invited to dinner, most of us bring flowers or wine or chocolates
for our hosts. The Jewish holiday of Passover is around the corner – it
begins at sundown March 29 – and the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors
suggests another way people can show their appreciation to those who invite
them to Passover Seder meals: helping to underwrite the cost of the centre’s
Meals on Wheels program by sending meals in their honour to a senior in
need.
A gift of $18 pays for two Mitzvah Meals, as they are known; $36 pays for
four meals and $54 means seven meals on wheels will be delivered. The
Cummings centre mails customized cards acknowledging the gift.
Mitzvah Meals can be ordered by calling 514-343-3529, Local 7316, or online
at www.cummingscentre.org. The deadline is Friday.
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