The answer: YACC’s 10th Annual Climb!
As you all know, registrations have started for our Survivor Conference happening from October 22-26, 2009 in St. John's, NL. In order to help you get to the Conference, we have travel assistance for those who need it, based on the province where you live. Knowing that the travel assistance, as helpful as it is, might not be enough, we have something else to offer you.

This year, YACC is celebrating its 10th Climb anniversary and the Climb happens to be on the same weekend as the Survivor Conference, on Saturday afternoon, October 24, 2009, what a beautiful coincidence! The Climb is approximately a 45 minute walk up Signal Hill, a historical hill downtown St. John's. The Climb is on a paved road (not involving getting lost in the woods, having to camp in the middle of the climb or rock climbing ).

We have decided to use this opportunity to help you raise some extra funds for your plane ticket! If you register and Climb Signal Hill with us, you could get family and friends to sponsor you. The money you raise (up to the amount of your plane ticket) will go towards your travel. Any money raised above your plane ticket will go into the travel assistance pot to help another young adult. 

There is no obligation to do so, but if you are interested in adding a Climb to your amazing Survivor Conference weekend, we will make it happen for you. We included The Climb in our Conference schedule and it will be one of the options on Saturday afternoon.  If you decide to raise some money and Climb with survivors, family members, and friends from St. John's and other communities in NL, you won't miss any scheduled program. We will get anyone interested to Signal Hill on Saturday afternoon and everyone back at the end of the day.

If physically, you are unable to Climb on foot, but still want to raise some money and be part of this symbolic event, you can still register. We are in the process of making the necessary arrangements to get any survivors unable to climb to the top of Signal Hill.

How do I register?

To register and start raising some money, connect with .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and she will send you your survivors link. The link was created exclusively for our survivor that is the reason why we ask you to register and do everything using the link we send you. Once you are registered, you will receive a confirmation email and everything you need to start raising some money.
If you want information on the Climb, you can check our website http://www.youngadultcancer.ca/climb/  just don't register there (the general public will register through our site).

There are two ways to raise pledges for The Climb; online and in person. For online pledges, donors can visit the site (to get the link, again you have to connect with Karine at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
to search for your name and give by credit card. For all other donations, you may download a pledge sheet through your link and go to town! PLEASE NOTE: the physical pledge sheet is for OFFLINE donations only. DO NOT record your ONLINE donations on this form. If you ONLY have ONLINE donations, you DO NOT need to bring a pledge form with you the day of The Climb.

If you asked for travel assistance, we will still send you your cheque and we will keep track of your pledges and amount raised until the conference. After the event, we will send you a cheque with the extra money you raised, up to the total cost of your ticket. If you raised more than the cost of your ticket, the extra money will be added to our travel assistance budget and will help another young adult get to the conference.

Anyone interested in climbing Signal Hill can register and raise money for YACC. As you know, the majority of the money we raise yearly goes to support programs (Retreats, Conferences, Workshops, etc.). This could be an amazing way to raise awareness among your friends and family and also help yourself (and maybe someone else) get to the biggest young adult reunion in Canada.

You still have more than 2 months before the conference, who knows how much you could raise by then.

This year, YACC is dedicating The Climb to the survivors who are no longer with us. Some of them you have known, loved, been inspired by. You can Climb for yourself, someone you love, the cause, anything that gets your heart racing.

For any questions about the process or the Conference, please connect with me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Posted on Aug 31, 2009 - 05:27 PM by Karine

I know, it’s been a while, but it was worth it! Much more information is coming your way for our up-coming Conference.  First of all, the program is getting more and more detailed and we will be able to post it soon on the web.

We are already half full. Only 30 spots left. I know it sounds like a lot, but knowing that we open the conference to every young adult in the country who is interested, it is quite small. If you have not already registered, I encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, our “sex” specialist Sylvie Aubin won’t be able to join us due to a scheduling conflict. We are sad, but we will keep connecting with Sylvie on future projects for sure.  This change and the feedback we got from your application forms helped us create the program for this year’s conference. We are trying to come up with the perfect combination of connection, tools to move forward and inspiration to raise awareness and get fired up about the young adult community and what we can do to keep the flame alive.

I should be able to post our program in a couple of weeks, so keep checking our site. www.youngadultcancer.ca

I know many of you are planning your trip to Newfoundland and some of you are looking into staying a couple of extra days in beautiful St-John’s. To help you plan, the Comfort Inn Hotel has set up a rate of $99 per night for survivors/supporters attending the Conference. If you chose to sleep there, you must be booked directly with them at 1.709.753.3500 as this rate is not offered through their central reservation system.

The Comfort Inn is just beside the Airport. If you want to go downtown, you would have to take a taxi (about a 10 minutes ride).
If you are interested, check out their website http://www.comfortinnstjohns.com/

If you need any help or information to plan your time in NL, I suggest you go on the following websites:
http://www.destinationstjohns.com/
http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/
http://www.stjohns.ca/index.jsp

If you have any questions about the conference, connect with Karine at karine@youngadultcancer.ca

Can’t wait to get wild at The Wilds.

Posted on Aug 31, 2009 - 04:19 PM by Karine

About a month ago, we posted our first official invitation for our next Survivor Conference. Since then, more than 20 of you have already registered and I keep receiving new forms every week! It’s really shaping out to be incredible! YOU have the power to make this event everything that it can be and will be. I don’t want the pace of registration to slow down! With 20 in a month, we will quickly reach our maximum capacity of 60!

Try to picture this; 60 inspiring, fun, loving, informed and motivated survivors in the same room…60 people sharing their story, what they have learned, what works, what doesn’t.. 60 people being silly, relaxing, and having fun…60 people invested and interested in the future of young adults, and working together in making the rest of their life, the best it can be.  Do you see it? I do, and it looks amazing!

Many alumni survivors are registering and some new ones as well. Reading everybody’s forms, I feel the same energy. It’s filled with openness to see old friends and make new ones, to share and to try and put our heads together to make things better.  Every facilitator we spoke to is excited and feels privilege to be part of it with all of you. At YACC, heads are bubbling, phones are ringing and we are all working together to get things ready for this big event. 

If you have not registered yet, do. If you know a survivor who does not know about us, share the good news. 

Can’t wait! Can you?

Posted on Aug 07, 2009 - 04:35 PM by Karine