A now 5 year running golf tournament in Kingston raised an all time high $176,530 in support of prostate cancer care at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC).
The fifth annual Power of Hope Golf Tournament was held on August 25 featuring 148 total golfers, slightly more than the targeted number according to organizer Mike Laframboise.
“The number of people that have approached me to say ‘I hear you’re doing this and I’d like to get involved, I’d like to donate,'” Laframboise said.
“I haven’t had to twist people’s arms, it’s been very well received in this city.”
Laframboise himself was inspired to begin holding the golf tournament to raise money for prostate cancer research and technology after undergoing surgery himself for prostate cancer with Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) in 2019.
Laframboise said his surgery was completed by a da Vinci robot, a piece of equipment that was acquired thanks to a charitable donation.
This led him to want to give back, but through finding a way that would be bigger than just his own individual donation, and so the tournament follows the lead of the Rose of Hope golf tournament which has raised over $3.5 million for breast cancer initiatives.
Now after 5 years, the Power of Hope golf tournament has raised over $740,000 cumulatively.
Laframboise says an added benefit has been the general awareness drawn towards prostate cancer.
He says while he wouldn’t call himself an expert, passing down his own experience can be eye opening to some people living with prostate cancer, as well as for prevention.
“I can tell them what I experienced, I’ve had a number of people that I’ve been able to chat with and they feel more comfortable with what’s happening to them,” Laframboise said.
“Then you’ve also got the awareness… of the people that are sitting in the audience that night and I’m telling them, make sure you get tested, the PSA test is very important. And so maybe we save some lives that way.”
Laframboise says the money they’ve raised through the tournament will go towards financing a second da Vinci robot for KSHC, which he says will open a lot of doors for the Kingston community.
He says being in any way a part of working towards that has been gratifying.
“We can expand from just prostate cancer to urological cancers, kidney cancers, gynecological oncology, hysterectomies, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver, bile ducts, and gallbladder and even heart surgery,” Laframboise said.
“The people in Kingston are going to really benefit from this second da Vinci.”
