Over the years, hundreds upon hundreds of men have drawn on our resources and have come away better prepared emotionally and intellectually to make decisions on their treatment and the life changes that can be expected. Today, we are pleased to have a strong continuing membership of more than 350 men in the Ottawa association. Most are in the immediate Ottawa area. For those living in the region, we try to provide assistance to the local support groups (which are often breast cancer based) and we offer all our resources to them.

PCAO does not consider itself a fund-raising organization although, clearly, we do need money for our own survival. In the main, we rely on membership donations to sustain our activities. We have been fortunate to receive generous donations from individuals or organizations which appreciate the work we do and wish to see it continued.

The Association holds monthly meetings, most with expert speakers drawn from both the clinical and research side of The Ottawa Hospital, the Regional Cancer Centre, the Ottawa Health Research Institute, social support institutions, and national cancer organizations. At our monthly meetings, we have a special mentoring session for newly-diagnosed men, giving them and their families the opportunity to discuss their concerns and issues in confidence with prostate cancer survivors. This is the most important activity we carry.

We publish The Walnut, a monthly newsletter for our members – available free of charge to anyone, either by Canada Post or electronically downloaded from our website (www.ncf.ca/pca). An archive of one year is maintained on the site. We carry out a fairly vigorous public information campaign, collaborating with Ottawa Public Health and the Canadian Cancer Society, to make men more aware of the threat of prostate cancer and the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment. In this campaign, we support the use of the Prostate Specific Antigen blood test as the best available indicator of a problem in the prostate that may be cancerous and have advocated its cost be underwritten by the provincial government.

Each year, the Association presents the Dried Prostate Award to an individual or organization which has made a significant contribution to the fight against prostate cancer. The award has been given out for 14 years, almost as long the Association has existed. The most recent award, for 2007, went to the Ages family of Ottawa which made the Cancer Assessment Centre of The Ottawa Hospital possible. A complete list of recipients can be found on the website.

We are proud to partner with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation to present, in collaboration with Alterna Savings (formerly CS COOP), the annual Do It for Dad run and family walk to raise money for cancer research, treatment and support. Close to a million dollars has been raised in the eight years of this event. We also support the annual Motorcycle Ride for Dad which dedicates its thousands of dollars to research in Ottawa.

We maintain a strong relationship with The Ottawa Hospital, the Regional Cancer Centre, and their respective Foundations. Our Association, over the years has donated close to $25,000 to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation for the Prostate Unit of the Cancer Assessment Centre that opened in 2007. The Assessment Centre, at the General site of The Ottawa Hospital, will facilitate speedier diagnosis of prostate, lung or colorectal cancers by centralizing the steps and patient data leading up to treatment. Given the funds raised for the ORCF, we are invited annually to sit on the grants review committee. This gives us a good perspective on the overall work of the Foundation and a transparent assurance that funds raised are being spent effectively and conscientiously.

We are also proud to be a founding member of the Canadian Prostate Cancer Network (CPCN www.cpcn.org ), the national agency for support groups, and we endorse the activities of the Canadian Prostate Cancer Research Initiative (CPCRI) and the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada (PCRFC). We have participated in the Initiative’s awareness meetings with federal parliamentarians, the object of which is to encourage continuation of dedicated funding to prostate cancer research. The Initiative was founded with contributions from the Canadian Cancer Society (NCIC) and a matching grant from Health Canada that gave a kick start to significant prostate cancer research in Canada; the failure to renew that federal grant has frustrated researchers and clinicians who fear that it may result in a serious setback to further research.

In Ottawa, PCAO is pleased to collaborate with the local branch of the Canadian Cancer Society and with Ottawa Public Health in various awareness and public education activities. In addition to drawing on CCS for their informative pamphlets, we work each year with it to derive maximum effect for the national ‘Prostate Cancer Awareness Week’ in September and support the annual daffodil campaign with volunteer workers. On these occasions, PCAO volunteers are at malls, big box retail stores, other urban venues and various farmers’ markets and fall fairs to spread the message about prostate cancer. We have supported Ottawa Public Health in the production and distribution of their very useful booklet, Bodyworx/l’exprès, outlining the principal ailments affecting men, and we work with the Public Health Nurses throughout the community to make presentations to their client groups.

In addition to the information materials available from CCS and Public Health, we receive and distribute pamphlets and booklets produced by drug companies involved with prostate cancer. Significant among these is a quarterly magazine, Our Voice, which is produced and distributed nationally by Parkhurst Publications of Montreal with unrestricted educational grants from AstraZeneca Canada Inc. and sanofi-aventis Canada Inc.

There are two principal symbols representing prostate cancer patients, survivors and their supporters: one is a brass reef knot pin and the other is a blue ribbon pin. Both represent the interdependence of the community members; the former is a Canadian symbol and the latter is international.