From Sarah, Sun, 16 Sep 2007
The Unveiling ceremony for Will took place on September 9th, 2007. This was a small ceremony with family and a few friends in which the monument was uncovered and we had an opportunity to get together to remember Will. Ray, Will's brother, spoke at the ceremony and had some very beautiful words to share.
For those that live too far away to have been a part of this and are unable to visit the cemetery, I have included a few pictures of his monument that is now in place.
Fri, 14 Sep 2007
Team Will Power, comprising Kalinda, Lucero, Matt, Evan, Denise, Joanne, Jon, Sarah, Brian, Heather, Suzanne and Stuart, raised a total of $9882 for cancer research.
From Stuart, Tue, 17 Jul 2007
At the time of writing, team Will Power have raised $9,640 for the BC Cancer Foundation. They completed their sponsored run on the 7th of July in temperatures so warm that they were glad to be able to run around the streets of Vancouver in their underwear, without being pulled over by the police for indecency. For some, their expected 10km goal was stretched out to 14km due to a "logistical problem", and the official timing was about as reliable as a BC Transit bus timetable, making a nonsense of the final results. Still, fun was had by all and the huge sum of money that was raised by Will Power was amongst the largest of all those raised by the teams that participated. It is a tribute to Will, who gave the team purpose and encouraged all of their sponsors to donate so generously.
Many thanks to the team, to all who sponsored them and to Will, in whose honour they all made a difference in the fight against cancer.
From Kalinda, Mon, 2 Jul 2007
The fundraiser on June 8th was a HUGE success!! The team raised an astounding $2,750, loads of people have already asked about next year's event! Chris Molineux and his sidekick, Terry Whitehead put on an excellent show. Chris has agreed to return as the headliner and several of the businesses have already offered to donate prizes again next year due to the success of this year's event.
There were over 100 + attendees and many more which were unable to attend from the detachment due to, well, police stuff, that said, they all still bought tickets and showed their support for the team! The ball toss was a lot of fun, three waffle balls for $2, and you had to sink two balls in the starched drawers (the white boxers were made like that intentionally, we didn't procure them from the men's change room).
The silent auction was by far the biggest success bringing in close to $1,000!
Now, here's something incredible, prior to the fundraiser, there was only a couple of people on the team with a mere $500 in the pot now team WILL POWER has twelve proud members and ranks #5 with a total of over $8,000 raised out of over 150 teams!
Also, two of the local newspapers, the Burnaby Now and the Burnaby Newsleader, ran excellent articles about the team and the fundraiser. The article that ran in the Burnaby Newsleader is very special since Sarah shares the story of Will with so many. She did such an excellent job, you can't help but be proud and impressed as she continues to handle herself with such grace.
It was thanks to these articles, Lhy Thai restaurant, one of Sarah and Will's favourites, donated $500 and sent a beautiful card to Sarah.
We can hardly wait for the run on July 7th!!
Kalinda
Sun, 17 Jun 2007
The hugely successful Underwear Affair fundraiser on the 8th of June, plus each team member's individual fundraising efforts, have contributed to a total of over $6000 raised for cancer research. This massive success is all thanks to the team, their sponsors and, of course, to Will himself.
If you would like to donate to team Will Power, running in honour of Will and to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation, please visit the team page by clicking the link below.
Sat, 9 Jun 2007
The Underwear Affair is a 5km walk or a 10km run and is on the 7th of July. If you are going to sign up, do it now. Go to www.UncoverTheCure.org, look up the team Will Power and click on join team. The password is power. You can also make a donation on behalf of the team and help them reach their goal.
Two articles in the local Burnaby papers describe Will and his battle with cancer, and the fundraising efforts by team Will Power in his honour:
From Sarah, Thu, 10 May 2007 9:38 AM
Hi,
I realize that this event is not specifically for the cancer that Will had,
however any and all cures are the goal. I fully support this event and I
hope you will too. This will not only be a great fundraiser but fun night
out with friends as well.
Please feel free to pass this along to any of your friends.
Sarah
Want to help generate awareness and generate money for cancers that used to be taboo? The BC Cancer Foundation's Underwear Affair is helping to give those cancers the exposure required to find a cure, but they can't do it alone, we need your help.
We're hosting a fundraiser for our team, WILL POWER, running in memory of Will Murray.
How can YOU help?
Easy...buy a ticket to the upcoming fundraiser June 8th, it's a great
opportunity to support a cause that has touched everyone's lives. Tickets
are only $20 in advance and they include a burger and a beer PLUS entry for
some great door prizes. There will also be live comedy AND an amazing silent
auction. There are surfing lessons, white water rafting, harbour tours, etc.
up for grabs. Check out the attached poster with all the logos and for more
information.
That sounds great! When will it be?
Friday, June 8th at the Burnaby Lake Clubhouse just off the Kensigton exit
on the Highway in Burnaby, starts at 6pm.
Well, if there's beer involved, isn't that kind of far to drive? We've taken care of that too! Volunteers from my office will drive you and your vehicle home if you get too festive!! It can cost you as little or as much as you like, the rides home are by donation.....what a deal!!!
For tickets contact Kalinda.
From Sarah, Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:37 AM
Hello,
I wanted to send out a message to say THANK YOU.
This has been a really difficult year.
The last month and a half has been beyond difficult.
I have received such enormous love and support from both mine and Will's
family and friends.
This support, whether it has been a visit, phone call, e-mail, being present
at the funeral, a card, a donation, or a message posted on the web site, it
has meant a great deal to me.
I know that Will was loved but your support reinforces just how much.
I have been meaning to tell people what our plans are for the Will Murray Memorial Fund. With the help of Will's two brothers we are hoping to register as a charity. A bit more research needs to go into this but that is the hope. We would like to continue to raise funds in Will's memory on a yearly basis in order to provide money for research in the area of Thymoma and the neuromuscular disorders associated to it. Firstly, we are looking into donating to the facilities that provided a tremendous amount of care to Will for the 10 months that he was in hospital. I am hopeful that those who have donated are comfortable with this decision. Some people have asked me if they were still able to donate to the Will Murray Memorial Fund. The answer is yes. The account will remain active. Any changes that occur, I will post on the web site.
The web site has also remained active and is continually being updated and improved thanks to Stuart. The web address has been changed to www.willmurray.ca (though the old address still takes you there). There are new pictures that have been added as well as some of Will's writing. As I am able to sort through, I will add more of Will's writing to share with you. Myself along with Will's family have received a lot of comfort from the messages and stories that people have posted. Thank you for taking the time to share. We check regularly to see if anything new has been added so if you still feel like you may want to write something please do. It means a lot to hear your story. Also, if you have any pictures, I would love it if you e-mailed them in for the web site or shared them with me in some way.
I imagine that the months to come will be a rollercoaster for me. Please stay in touch even if I haven't been great at responding.
For those that are not sure, it is ok to call me or e-mail me. It is ok to talk about Will with me. If you are comfortable, I am comfortable, I could talk about Will all day long. Don't feel you need to wait for me to initiate.
Please pass this e-mail on to those who you feel it would be appropriate.
Sincerely,
Sarah Murray
Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:30 AM
As you may have noticed, this web site's address has changed. The site's original purpose was to help manage visitors, dog walkers and meals while Will was in the hospital. The new address simply reflects the site's dedication to Will.
As always, your contributions, comments and suggestions are always welcome.
From Sarah, Sun, 24 Dec 2006 8:53 PM
Please feel free to forward to those who loved Will.
From Stuart, Sun, 24 Dec 2006 12:35 PM
Sarah asked me to pass on the news that there is a memorial service planned in honour of Will for this coming Thursday (28 Dec), which will be held in B.C. The funeral is planned for the following day (Friday 29 Dec) and will be held in Ontario. More details will follow.
From Stuart, Sat, 23 Dec 2006 11:15 AM
It is with great sadness that I write this update. As most of you will now know, Will caught an infection earlier in the week while his immune system was weak from a course of chemotherapy. Unfortunately Will was not strong enough to win this battle and the fever led to organ failure and he finally died late afternoon yesterday.
Sarah has had the support of Will's family and her mum throughout the past few days and they will continue to help eachother through this period. They also draw comfort from a great many friends.
I am unable to provide further details regarding these final developments or what will happen next, but will promise to keep you posted. In the meantime, if you'd like to make your own contributions to this web site with a story, an anecdote, or simply your memories of our dear friend Will, please feel free to email them and I'll post them up. Photo's would also be very welcome.
I will leave you with one of a great many precious moments I shared with Will and Sarah, which was just two weeks ago. Nikki and I had gone up to the hospital to see them and we ran into Will's mum on her way out, who said that, if we hurry, we might catch Will in his wheelchair. So we rushed to the intensive care unit where he was staying and found him very slowly wheeling himself around the nurses station in the centre of the ward, with Sarah in tow holding his IV solutions. He had so much more energy and strength than we'd seen before, enabling him to sit up unassisted and to move his upper body. He was breathing without the ventilator and he was even talking through his vocal cords and not the talking tracheotomy, which gave a real sense of our old friend Will. Sure, he was in a wheelchair, had lost a lot of weight and had less hair on his head than we ever thought was possible, but we recognised him as Will more so than at any time in the past 9 months, with his strength, courage, smile and good humour. It was a gift to have seen him like that and I will treasure the memory together with many more that I was privileged to share with him.
Will, we love you.
stuart