Doug Thomson
CEO, The Canadian Orthopaedic Assocation &
The Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation

Despite bad weather on the East Coast and SARS II in Toronto, the revenues from the actual day of Hip Hip Hooray roughly match the final total from last year. Given that historically the post-walk mail-in donations frequently add another 30% to the bottom line, it's safe to say that the results for 2003 are looking very positive. But that's not the whole story.  

In the elaborate (some might say, 'downright complicated') return package filed this year by Hip Hip Hooray sites, with few exceptions, the reports are filled with enthusiasm and satisfaction: "had a great day, over 500 people came", "everyone loves Hip Hip Hooray", "rainy but still had a good day", "growing surgeon support", "everyone happy", "a best-ever year and still counting", and so on. Although fundraising is, by necessity, a team effort, one individual really helped make these glowing reviews possible - Barry Baker, a truly gifted fundraiser who understands the importance of building one-to-one relationships, listening to folks in the field and delivering on his word.

This year, organization and logistics improved immensely (although a regrettable mail mix-up involving Halifax shows the system isn't perfect yet), and site volunteers were able to respond quickly to bad weather and unforeseen factors. May 26 was a cold, rainy day throughout much of the Atlantic provinces, which is why revenues are somewhat down in most of the region's sites - with the exception of Sydney, NS, which gambled on sunnier weather on June 9 and won. From Amos, way up in northern Quebec, to London to Calgary and Vancouver, people came out in substantial numbers.

Our Toronto volunteers, though, deserve special mention. Two events had been planned: Toronto South (at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds) on Saturday and Toronto North (at St. Johns Rehabilitation Hospital) on Sunday. Forty-eight hours before the Toronto North event, the second SARS outbreak forced its cancellation. Ironically, the cancellation provided us with our widest media coverage. And, Dr. Allan E. Gross pulled some strings to do a live interview on local sports radio, FAN 590, encouraging people to come to the Saturday event instead. Despite a rainy Saturday, there was an extremely good turnout of participants, who remained comfortably dry under the vast roof of the CNE's Horticultural Building. Although the cancellation of the Toronto North event was a bit of a setback, in a lot of cases, individual volunteers had already collected the money, so all they had to do was send it in. So far, Toronto's combined revenues look to have far exceeded 2002, and mail-in donations are coming in steadily. Once again, it's a testament to our volunteers' know-how that they were able to react so quickly to save the situation.

The COF Executive has worried about the future of Hip Hip Hooray, since changes in privacy legislation will soon force us to find new ways of recruiting participants. This year's Hip Hip Hooray is memorable, if only because it shows the event resonates very strongly with orthopaedic patients, their families, their friends and neighbours. One of our ongoing major tasks is to make sure that patients know about the event and other Foundation activities.

To that end, this Fall, the COF's Board will consider a strategic plan that places emphasis on communications and establishing an ongoing dialogue with orthopaedic patients and professionals. Certainly, thanks to everybody's efforts, we will have the resources to move ahead with the plan after it receives Board approval.

In the meantime, three cheers for Hip Hip Hooray!