Frank Rana's Annual Cedars' Campaign

The Cedars Cancer Foundation is happy to welcome Frank Rana back to the Cedars Board of Directors in 2022 and remains grateful to him and his donors for their extraordinary dedication and commitment to helping our cancer patients and their families. Since 2010, Frank Rana has rallied his friends, family and corporate colleagues around a cause that is very close to his heart. Thanks to his leadership and direction, over $4.2 million dollars has been raised to fund Cedars Supportive Care programs and Cedars CanSupport. These vital funds have helped us improve the quality of life for cancer patients as we provide free psychological, emotional, spiritual support, practical information and financial assistance for our patients at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). With the support of Frank Rana and his unrelenting Cedars Supportive Care Campaign, all these services and more will one day find themselves under one roof at the Cedars Oncology Supportive Care Centre (COSCC).

With the Supportive Care Capital Fund well established and a new home for the Supportive Care Centre in the works, this year, donations will continue to support a cancer Prehabilitation Program, whereby cancer patients will be provided with a rehabilitation program prior to them beginning their surgery, chemotherapy and radio-therapy. Additionally, in response to the ongoing pandemic, donations will also enable Cedars to provide critical financial assistance to those finding themselves in economic difficulty at a time when they are at their most vulnerable. Your support will alleviate the negative impact of financial hardship by reducing the stress associated with life’s necessities such as shelter, groceries, utilities, and transportation costs.

Frank and Mary Rana have been part of the Friends for the Cure Committee since 2003. The Friends for the Cure Committee are a close-knit circle of friends, united through Tina and Dominic Lamanuzzi and a shared passion for helping others.

In 1999, Montreal General Hospital (MGH) operating room nurse Tina Lamanuzzi wanted to hold a fundraiser in aid of the MGH. She enlisted the support of her husband and friends and held the first Valentine's Day gala at a neighbourhood hall for families and friends. Tina and her Friends for the Cure Committee raised $15,000. The next year they filled the hall and raised about $18,000. For their third year, the committee decided to direct whatever they could raise towards establishing a Cedars CanSupport patient support service at the MGH. Forever optimistic, Tina Lamanuzzi was shooting for a "pie-in-the sky" $50,000, while most of her fellow committee members were aiming for a more realistic goal of $25,000. They were both wrong! By now, Frank Rana had caught the bug. He picked up his phone to reach his many contacts. He was unaware of the others' expectations and he went out and alone raised over $85,000 in corporate funding. With his contributions, the third year fundraiser brought in an over-the-top $100,000! In 2016, the Friends for the Cure event held at Le Madison in Saint Leonard, was attended by more than 900 patrons and raised over $325,000!

Fast forward to the present, Frank Rana has raised over $4.2 M for MUHC patients by way of his annual campaign and involvement through Friends for the Cure. The Cedars Cancer Foundation cannot even begin to express the tremendous impact this has and will continue to have on our cancer patients. A wholehearted thank-you to all those involved!