To turn a cancer diagnosis into a major community fundraiser would be a difficult task for anyone, let alone a working mother with a preschool-aged daughter.
Just months after having major surgery for Stage 1 ovarian cancer, Dena Edwards Wadden hosted the first annual Teal to Heal run and walk in Coxheath, N.S., on Mother’s Day 2022 to raise money and awareness for those fighting the disease.
"I realized the lack of attention, the lack of funding, the lack of supports that are in place for it,” Edwards Wadden said. “So initially, I originally just said I wanted to have a Mother's Day walk."
More than 1,000 people turned out and more than $100,000 was raised.
This Mother's Day, she hopes to do even better.
"We were fortunate enough this year to actually increase registration to 1,500 participants, so we're going a bit bigger this year,” Edwards Wadden said.
Across town in the heart of Sydney, Anna Manley runs her own law firm in her home where she raises her two kids. The work-life balance still isn't easy.
"Working a regular work day, taking care of the kids between the end of the day and 8:30 [p.m.],” Manley explained. “And then I kind of end up working until later, usually. Weekends, evenings."
To help herself and the other moms on staff at Manley Law Inc. make everything work, Manley has set up a private daycare in the law firm.
"Sometimes we end up going a little bit past five, and because we have our own people here managing our kids, we can do that,” Manley said. “And we need to do that because we need the flexibility."
On Friday, high school students cleaned up the grounds to get ready for Sunday's Teal to Heal event and the couple of thousand people who will show up to support the cause.
"I think it's going to be pretty powerful if someone were to drive by or walk by and not know what's going on, because it's just going to be teal everywhere,” Edwards Wadden said.
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