November 22, 2010, Kelowna, B.C. – The BC Cancer Foundation announced today that a gift from the estate of a long-time Kelowna resident and former cancer patient will fund a major cancer prevention research project coming to the Southern Interior in the New Year.

 The donor was a former cancer patient who had received treatment and care at the BC Cancer Agency’s Centre for the Southern Interior, in Kelowna. She included a gift in her will to the Foundation, wishing to support the Agency’s regional centre. Her gift will enable the Agency to open a local clinic offering area residents the opportunity to participate in the Agency’s BC Generations Project in their home community.

 BC Cancer Foundation President & CEO Douglas Nelson said, “Our donor was very grateful for the care she received and wanted to continue to support the BC Cancer Agency in her community after the end of her own life. The BC Cancer Foundation is happy to be able to fulfill her wish by funding the BC Generations Project in Kelowna for the benefit of the region’s citizens, now and in the future.”

  “It’s a huge opportunity for this generation to do something for future generations,” added Richard Gallagher, BC Generations Project principal investigator and senior scientist in the BC Cancer Agency’s Cancer Control Research Program. “This could help protect your children or your grandchildren from getting cancer or chronic disease.”

 The BC Generations Project plans to open the registration clinic in Kelowna on             January 6^th, 2011.

 The BC Cancer Foundation, the fundraising partner of the BC Cancer Agency and the largest charitable funder of cancer research in B.C., enables donors to contribute to leading-edge research that has a direct impact on improvements to cancer care for patients.