Campus Life

Kilt pledge to raise funds for cancer

Steve Firth, a native of Scotland and fourth-year philosophy major, has pledged to wear a kilt every day over the next 12 months and will organize a number of kilt-themed events in order to promote awareness of male cancers and to raise funds for cancer-focused organisations.

With a team of supportive bagpipers, Firth kicked off his campaign, and his pants, in late March.

"I have seen a lot of friends and family cut down with cancer recently, and all of them men," says Firth.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, there are nearly 200,000 new cases of cancer and over 75,000 cancer deaths overall in Canada each year.

More men than women are diagnosed and will die from cancer each year (52 per cent of all new cases and deaths), and there is a greater incidence of prostate cancer in men, than breast cancer in women (26,500 cases of prostate cancer vs. 22,700 of breast cancer in 2012).

The top three male cancers – colorectal, prostate, and lung cancer – comprise around 40 per cent of all cancers.

For more information and ways to donate, go to www.kilt-up4Cancer.com, or, as Firth says, "just look for the crazy Scotsman!"