FAQ

This year’s Journey to Conquer Cancer will take place on June 16, 2024.

For physical cheques and donation forms, please send to:
ATTN: Journey to Conquer Cancer
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
610 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 2M9

For courier deliveries, please ship to our office:
ATTN: Journey to Conquer Cancer
700 University Ave.
4th floor, Toronto, ON, M5G 1Z5

For a comfortable event day, please make sure to bring the following:

• Identification (government ID and health card)
• Cash, credit card
• Comfortable clothing
• Sunscreen and hat (baseball cap, bandana, etc.)
• Reusable water bottle
• Raingear (weather permitting)

Please do not leave your dog unsupervised and be sure to have them leashed at all times. And don’t forget to pick up after them!

For safety reasons, anyone walking or running in a Journey route must be registered. However, family and friends are welcome to cheer along the route or cheer on participants at the finish line.

Each participant can decide what area they would like to support. We have many areas of research, patient care and programs that need your help. Please see our Cancer Funds section for more info.

Absolutely everyone can take part in this family-friendly event with the option to participate in 5K, 3K, and 1K distances. With the virtual event: anyone in the world can participate and still have an engaging experience from their hometown.  For in-person events: dogs, wheelchairs, and strollers are also permitted!  Parental Guidance is suggested for children under the age of 16 and kids 12 and under are free and do not have to meet the fundraising minimum.

Whether you participate in-person or virtually, registration fees are required (except for kids 12 and under as they are free) and non-refundable. Your registration fees help to cover administrative and operational costs related to the event so that we can create an engaging experience for our in-person and virtual participants.  This way, more of the donations raised can be used for life-saving cancer research and care.

Conquering Cancer takes a significant amount of dollars. Every dollar raised by the Journey funds breakthrough research and enhanced care initiatives at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. By implementing a fundraising minimum, we incentivize our participants to raise more funds for the area of cancer research they are passionate about. You can see the real impact of your fundraising dollars in our 2023 Impact Report.

If you need help to reach the fundraising minimum or your fundraising goal, simply reach out to our Support Team and we’ll help you to get there!

Email: journey2conquer@thepmcf.ca
Phone: 416-946-2382

The funds raised through Journey to Conquer Cancer directly support over 1,300 researchers and scientists at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. To see how donations like yours support breakthroughs in cancer research and care, please read our 2023 Impact Report.

It's easy with our secure online credit card process. Click the "Donate" button at the top of this page and select the participant or team you want to donate to. Choose a donation amount and follow the instructions. All donations over $15 will receive a tax receipt via email.

We make every effort to protect your personal information. The software we use for registrations and donations on our website uses industry-standard SSL encryption techniques to make sure that your credit card information, passwords, and personal information travel securely over the Internet. Credit card information is never stored in our database or on our software provider's database. 

Simply visit the participant’s and/or team’s Fundraising Page and click on the ‘Donate’ button. You will then be directed to the donation page that provides you with the option to download an individual or team donation form. From here, you can print and mail your completed form with a *cheque or the relevant credit card information. If preferred, you can also email our Support Team for your copy of the form: journey2conquer@thepmcf.ca.

Please include a valid email address to receive your receipt by email, otherwise, we can mail your tax receipt to your residence with your provided address details. 

*Note: Do not mail in cash donations.

Yes, you can absolutely receive cash donations but please do not mail the cash to us! We cannot be held responsible for cash donations that get lost in the mail. Instead, write a cheque for the donation amount and mail it in with your donation form (see “how do I donate by mail?” above). Just be sure to enter the donor’s contact information in all the required fields on the donation form. You can also make the donation online using your credit card, just be sure to put the donor’s contact information in all the required fields.  

No. Virtual Participants are not required to reach the fundraising minimum. However, those who reach the fundraising minimum will receive a Journey T-Shirt and Virtual Participant Kit in the mail, as well as other forms of Journey swag once they reach higher “Route to Rewards” incentive levels.

Yes, if the funds raised by your team are equivalent to $125 per participant, then all members on the team can participate. However, we encourage every participant to reach out to family, friends and loved ones to raise much needed funds for life-saving cancer research.

No, each participant over the age of 12 must raise the minimum of $125 to participate in-person at Journey. We want all participants there with us on the day of Journey, so there are options in place for those who have not raised the minimum by June 18:

• Participants can self-donate the remaining balance to reach the fundraising minimum.
• Anyone who chooses not to participate in The Journey is welcome to switch their registration to volunteer. Please check out the Volunteer Page (link to volunteer page) for more details.
• Participants can participate virtually instead, with no minimum fundraising amount required. This gives you the freedom to walk or run wherever, whenever, and with whoever you want while still raising money for cancer research.

After clicking ‘Donate’ on the participant’s fundraising page, you will be directed to the donation page where you’ll find a click through to an online USD donation form. Upon completion of the form and all the required fields, you will receive an email with an eligible U.S. tax receipt.

The Participant Centre refers to the password-protected fundraising platform on The Journey website. Upon registration, each participant can log into the Participant Centre with their own username and password to access the tools which allow you to set up your Participant Page, track donations, communicate with donors, teammates, and more.

Below is a summary of what is available to you in the Participant Centre: 
 
My Page 
Your Personal Page serves as your main communication piece to tell your story to potential donors, appeal to sponsors, and show your fundraising progress. Update your page with photos and videos to let people know why you are participating! You also have the option to personalize your webpage URL name and update your fundraising goal.  

Send Emails 
The E-mail Centre provides a host of sample e-mail templates that you can customize to send to donors, or the option to create your own, to help support your fundraising efforts.   

My Contacts 
Your address book allows you to add or import contacts from other e-mail programs and platforms. You can edit contact information, send messages, and track responses relating to your fundraising efforts.   

My Account 
Contains your user information, including your Participant ID, username, password, and your personal information like your selected shirt size.  

Donation History 
The Donation History section allows you to monitor your fundraising campaign by tracking your donations in relation to your fundraising goal and provides you with the option to re-issue donors’ tax receipts.

Follow-Ups 
The Follow-Ups section helps you track and monitor your campaign communications with handy reminders letting you know who has opened your email, who has visited your Personal/Team page, who has donated, who you need to send a “Thank You” e-mail to, and much more!  

To learn more, take a look at our helpful Participant Centre Guide: Here or Watch our Participant Centre Tools & Resources Video Here

Simply log in to your Participant Centre and click on ‘My Page’ then select ‘Edit Page’ to adjust your goal. Type in your new goal in the ‘Fundraising Goal’ text box and press the ‘Save’ button to update the goal listed on your fundraising page

To understand why there has been no single cure to cancer, the most important thing to know is that cancer is not one disease. Instead, it’s an umbrella term for more than 200 distinct diseases. Types of cancer vary considerably in their causes and the way in which they spread and are treated. The complexity of cancer means one single cure for all cancer types is unlikely. That said, thanks to decades of investment in cancer research at The Princess Margaret and centres around the world, we have made remarkable advances in technologies that have enabled us to greatly improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with cancer.

Did you know that the 5-year survival rate for Canadians with cancer has improved from 25% in the 1940s, to 64% today? Or that the female breast cancer death rate has dropped by nearly half since the mid-1980s? This progress is remarkable, and a profound reminder of how our efforts in raising funds through events like the Starlight Investments Journey to Conquer Cancer are translating into real hope for cancer patients across the globe.

We invite you to visit our website to learn more about The Princess Margaret’s recent cancer discoveries and to see how your investments are accelerating promising advancements in life-saving cancer research and care.

Thank you for your continued support of The Princess Margaret.

Still Have Questions?
Please click here 

Yes – The Princess Margaret Walk to Conquer Cancer is a 21 km half-marathon fundraising event that brings you through some of Toronto’s most vibrant neighbourhoods. Consider joining us on September 7, 2024. Click HERE to learn more! 

Volunteer registration for the Journey to Conquer Cancer opens April 10, 2024.

• Go to: Volunteer Portal
• Create an account (unless you have one already) 
• Review info about The Journey and the volunteer roles
• Submit your information and preferences

Stay tuned! We will reach out with assignments, schedules, training and more. 

Yes, all volunteers do need to register for the 2024 event and provide updated information and preferences, but if you volunteered with us in 2023 you already have an account. Please go to https://pmcfvolunteer.rosterfy.com/ and sign in before you complete the registration form.

If you need assistance with registration, please contact the Volunteer Services Team by email at pmcfteam@conquercancerevents.com or give us a call 289-351-2515.

Because volunteers dedicate their time and energy into making the event experience possible and enjoyable for everyone, they are not required to pay a registration fee.

Yes! We encourage all networks to volunteer together. For more information on Group Volunteer opportunities please contact us by email at pmcfteam@conquercancerevents.com or give us a call at 289-351-2515.  

Please note that volunteers for the Journey to Conquer Cancer must be over the age of 16 years old at the time of the event. Volunteers between the ages of 16-18 years old must be accompanied for their volunteer shift by a legal guardian chaperone and a legal guardian must complete the registration form on their behalf.