B-Strong

The B-Strong Fund was founded by Lindsay Bolger and her family, shortly after Lindsay was diagnosed with a rare (incurable) form of brain tumour in April of 2005. Prior to receiving a 6-week radiation treatment, she designed a baseball cap with her mom and a friend in anticipation of hair loss, and to help out others fighting similar battles.  At first it was thought that maybe we could sell 200 caps to family and friends.  Then St FX University bought 350 caps for all of their varsity athletes and presented them at a pep rally as a surprsie for Lindsay.  News spread quickly and the caps became very popular on campus.  ATV came to St FX campus to interview Lindsay.  Then CTV interviewed her live on air on Canada AM.  Then the word was out across Canada and orders flooded from everywhere.

Upon graduating from ST FX, Lindsay went on to George Brown College in Toronto for a graduate program in Sports and Event Marketing.  One of her classes required her to be involvd in a fundraising event.  Lindsay would never do anything half-baked.  It had to be professional and thorough.  She planned and assembled a team to help her create the first B-Strong Bash.  Over the summer months she took the concept to reality and planned the entire evening’s agenda, created teams for each major task, involved other students of George Brown, involved local students, relatives, friends and numerous volunteers.  People chased sponsorships, donations for auctions, door prizes and raffles.  She had a hand in every aspect including: the entertainment, the decorations and the menu to the last detail.  What was planned as a moderate community event with maybe a few hundrea people ended up wth almost 500 people and raising over $60K. 

B-Strong now raises funds through the annual B-Strong Bash, various other events as well as the sale of B-Strong Caps and “Lindsay” Bears. To date, over 5,000 caps have been sold across North America. All funds raised by B-Strong are targeted towards brain tumour research. Over $300,000 has been raised by B-Strong and donated to the following hospital foundations: Princess Margaret Hospital, Sick Kids, Sunnybrook and Montreal Neurological.

There are times in life when one is faced with unpredictable challenges. In my case, it was a brain tumour. Challenges like these test one’s strength and courage, but most of all they test how one accepts and deals with these. The only way to deal with these is in a positive way. This experience has totally made me realize that with the right attitude and support, you can truly find a positive view for anything.
Lindsay Bolger, 2005