Mike and Cara Weger and their family, known collectively as Team Teresa, wrapped up Cystic Fibrosis Month with virtual opening and closing ceremonies for the month of fundraising on Sunday, including a walk into the sunset at a friend’s farm. The theme this year was “Walk to Make Cystic Fibrosis History”.
The team has been busy raising funds, as has Mike’s son Bennett in a separate campaign, and many community members and friends of the family and of Bennett have also been contributing their own efforts.
Team Teresa raised over $32,000 as of Monday morning, said Mike, who noted they were very happy with this amount, “considering the economic times we are facing.”
He pointed out this total includes all of their fundraising activities over the past year.
Mike and four friends gathered on May 23 on their motorcycles, and took a 355-kilometre round trip around the southeast region for the virtual Ride for Breath of Life tour. The motorcyclists headed from Weyburn to Montmartre and went by Kenosee Lake on their tour of the region.
Bennett meanwhile aimed at the start to raise $4,000 for CF, and was getting close to $8,000 for May. He rollerbladed 580 km from May 1-24, and completed his goal of 4,300 shots on net last weekend. He had wanted to try to reach 5,000 by Sunday, but he suffered a foot injury on May 24. In spite of this setback, he surpassed his goal of rollerblading 65 km a week through May.
As a group, Team Teresa’s family and friends continued to log kilometres, and as of Saturday had logged 4,364 km. Other local kids, many of them friends of Bennett’s or friends of the family, also hit or were working towards their target goals in hockey, lacrosse or basketball shots on net.
Another assist came from Weyburn Minor Ball, as they have been collecting bottles and cans through the month, and are donating half of their proceeds to Team Teresa, and collections will continue into June.
The Team Teresa 4300 Kilometer Challenge Facebook page will remain open through the month of June, in case anyone might like to add more kilometres, hockey shots or basketball shots, or to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis Canada.
The team’s namesake, Teresa, is the Weger’s 15-year-old daughter who lives with Cystic Fibrosis, which is the most common, fatal genetic disease in Canada, which affects more than 4,300 children and adults in Canada.
This genetic condition affects every cell in the body, with problems mainly appearing in the lungs and digestive systems. There is no known cure for CF, and people with CF need to do between one and three hours a day of inhaled medical treatments and chest physiotherapy to loosen up and expel the mucus from their lungs.
