On May 25, 2018, Vancouver Skating Club (VSC) and Bantam Female North Shore Avalanche Hockey teamed up for a donate-to-skate event in support of Team Cassie and Friends. With over fifty people in attendance, the event, organized by long-time C+F community members Lorna and Naomi Bauer, raised over $600 for kids and families affected by juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic diseases!

Both Lorna, Sport Science Director at VSC, and her daughter Naomi have a special connection to Cassie and Friends – they both live with arthritis, as did Lorna’s late mother, Dorothy Humphreys. In fall 2017, friends and relatives of the Bauer family, along with several members of VSC, donated more than $1200 toward Cassie and Friends’ Parent Fund at BC Children’s Hospital in celebration of Humphreys’ life. The Fund helps parents facing urgent need costs like hospital parking, food, travel, medications and other resources. At the time, Lorna wrote “my mom participated in Cassie and Friends’ family day several years ago, and was very aware of our connection to the group and the wonderful things that Cassie and Friends has accomplished.”

We are so proud to know champions for kids like Lorna and Naomi, who never lets Juvenile Arthritis hold her back and now wants to help other kids through our Youth Leader Network. Over many years, the Bauers have raised thousands of dollars with help from their friends at VSC to support Cassie and Friends as part of our team in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge 5K and Half Marathon – our biggest annual fundraiser – and this year is no different as they prepare to run and help transform the lives of kids and families living with juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic diseases.

Thank you Lorna, Naomi, VSC and the Bantam Female North Shore Avalanche Hockey Team! To support Lorna and Naomi, you can visit their fundraising pages here and here!