Pillitteri upping his goal for Terry Fox run

When Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980, with a plan to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research, we could never have imagined that 43 years later we would still be talking about it, and raising money for cancer research in his name, says Joan King, organizer of the Niagara-on-the-Lake run.

It was a cold, rainy and windy day in St. John’s, Newfoundland when Fox dipped his foot in the Atlantic Ocean to begin his marathon a day. He would cover 5,300 kilometres over 143 days before cancer returned, putting an end to his goal on Sept. 1, 1980. Fox died on June 28, 1981, but his Marathon of Hope has continued.

Joe Pillitteri also has a goal — for Team Pillsy to reach or top $500,000 raised for cancer research since 2012, when he started participating in the annual run.

“I want to hit half a million dollars,” says Pillitteri. “We’re at $481,000. Last year we raised $105,000. This year my goal is $200,000. To do that we’ll need more people joining our team, more people helping out with fundraisers. It’s going to take a real community effort, with a lot of people coming on board.”

Pillitteri typically does a comedy show close to the run date, and tickets for it always sell out early.

This year he’s looking for a venue that will hold 1,000 people, feeling confident that will sell out as well. “I’m looking to bring more people together than we ever have before.”

He is also hoping more people will join Team Pillsy, and come up with their own fundraising ideas. “Pie sales, car washes, whatever you want to do. We just would love for everybody to be part of this.”

Niagara-on-the-Lake has in recent years been among the top 10 Canadian municipalities with run contributions, among the biggest cities in the country, “but that’s all because of Joe. We wouldn’t be doing that without him,” says King. “Last year we contributed about $160,000. Of that, $105,000 was from Joe.”

Wednesday, April 12 is the first day to sign up for this year’s run, and King encourages anyone who might be planning to participate to join Team Pillsy and help Pillitteri reach his goal.

As anybody who knows him will agree, even a brief meeting with NOTL’s celebrity comedian is guaranteed to include lots of laughter. Yet he takes his annual efforts to raise money very seriously, always trying to come up with something to top his previous year’s donation. One of his motivators is about family.

“We’ve seen over the years how close the Fox family is,” he says, after having lost their son and brother early, and very publicly. He has heard from Terry’s older brother, Fred Fox, who has congratulated him on the success of his runs, and has said he would like to attend the NOTL community run at some point.

The Fox family made sure Terry knew before he passed away that there would be an annual run in his name, and his goal to raise money for cancer research would live on.

“It’s moments like that that I think of my relationship with my sisters,” says Pillitteri. “That message is what makes this very personal for me. If it was one of my sisters, I’d feel the same way. I’d be honoured and proud to continue for them.”

Pillitteri has talked before about a time when he was going through a difficult period, when he picked up a book about Terry Fox, read about his accomplishments, and was inspired to make some changes in his own life.

He told The Local he has faced some recent challenges, but thinking about Terry Fox “gives me instant perspective, knowing what he was going through.”

He also thinks of his friend Keith Simmonds, who died last September in a tragic cycling accident while raising money for a cause that was dear to him.

“Keith was very much a ‘go big or go home’ kind of guy, and he has been on my mind a lot. Thinking about him makes me ask myself, can I do more?”

The answer is he’s going to try.

To help him reach his goal, sign up for his team online, or reach out to him with a fundraising idea on social media.