Last Friday evening (September 6), roughly two hundred people came out in support of a Cochrane family.

Dave Tollan (42), was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma (GBM), a type of brain cancer; and thanks to the generosity of many has almost 18,000 more dollars in his bank account as of yesterday (September 10).

Co-Organizers of the event, JoAnne Howard, Guy Rogers, and Joanne Daviduk say once they learned of Dave's diagnosis, they pooled their resources and got to work on the Tollan Family Fundraiser. "We all really adore Trish and Dave, and they're a wonderful couple."

Initially thinking the event would raise somewhere between 5,000 to 7,000 dollars, Howard says all three organizers were blown away by the overall monetary value. "We were in absolute shock with how much money we raised. All that day, when we were setting up, we had people walking in off the street and handing us cheques, cash, and donations. We didn't think we would even have enough items for a successful silent auction early on; but by the time we set up, we barely had enough room."

Tollan in

With Dave's age and cancer diagnosis, Howard says many business owners were not only willing but very generous to support the couple. "With it being such a personal fundraiser and being able to put a face to the people we were helping; it pulled on the heartstrings of a lot of people. We all have been through some form of cancer; there is not many people who haven't been touched by the disease."

Also offering to help, Paul and Jordan auctioned off their long locks which were cut off by attendees and cleaned up by a couple of hairstylists. "Their hair, not only supported the couple but also went to an organization that makes wigs for kids with cancer, so it was a double bonus. We raised a lot of money by auctioning off their braids, almost 400 dollars just by that."

Approaching the Venue Bar and Grill to host the event, Howard says the trio was impressed by the help they received from all fronts. "We had a lot of support along the way. Whether it was the guys doing the haircuts or the guys getting their haircut off to Bonnie at the Venue, we had a lot of extras and help put in. It was a lot of work, but it was really worth it. We were able to handover just shy of 18,000 dollars to Trish, and that made all the cursing, swearing, and hard work worth it, for sure."

As for Trish and Dave, the couple shares they are speechless. "It was very emotional, and in some ways, very overwhelming with just the sheer amount of support. It was wonderful and beautiful. We have never seen anything like it before."

Dave shares his surprise at the number of people that came out to support them, whether they knew the couple or not. "I didn't expect that many people there because I wasn't the one in charge of tickets or anything; so to see that many people come out was a big shock."

To express the amount of gratitude, both Trish and Dave feel is hard to put into words. Wanting to make sure every person/business knows how appreciative they are is an understatement. "We will be sending thank you cards out once we are a little more settled, and if we miss anyone, we want to apologize. From the bottom of our hearts, we are so incredibly grateful. Not in a million years did we ever expect this from our community. They stepped up unbelievably considering we have only been here for four and a half years. All the emotions that came up on Friday night left us speechless."

Lastly, the couple gave their heartfelt thanks to both the organizers and staff of the Venue

Just over 150 tickets was sold for the fundraiser with numerous more coming to donate/bid solely on the auction. 

While the evening fundraiser is a wrap, the couple still has a couple more things to look forward to. Thanks to the generosity of the Woolrich Group, the Tollan's basement will be finished and Half Hitch Brewing Company is donating a percentage of proceeds from their Papa Bear brew in October to the Tollan family.

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