REGINA - Allen Goudie never imagined cancer would affect his life in various ways. Certain events throughout his life led him to decide to volunteer for the Canadian Cancer Society, giving back to those who need help.
Growing up, Goudie described himself as having "excellent health." Unfortunately, a good friend of Goudie’s ended up getting a massive tumour behind his breastbone, passing away at the age of 31.
Goudie talked about how his friend was "getting started in life, and I was a young lawyer. We had met in school, and he had a two-year-old and a wife and all of a sudden, he was gone."
At the time, Goudie assumed people who got cancer were "old people." His perception of the disease kept changing after another friend of Goudie’s passed away from cancer.
The friend was partnered with Goudie in a law firm and developed liver cancer. Even though the friend flew all the way to Germany to receive treatment, the doctors could not do anything to save them.
Losing two friends from cancer really affected Goudie personally. Around the time Goudie lost his second friend from cancer, he was approached by the local division of the Canadian Cancer Society to volunteer.
He saw it as a good "learning opportunity for me [Goudie] plus an opportunity to get involved, to do some community support for a valuable organization that's doing good things."
His experience in law became valuable for the organization, as Goudie became the honorary solicitor.
As an honorary solicitor, Goudie would "review the will [of a person who put the society as their beneficiary], and we [the society] make sure that everything is legally in compliance [with the law]. The society at that time had 10, I believe, 10 unit offices around the province. Each of those offices had [a] leasehold space, so as the solicitor, I would review the leases and negotiate them with local commercial landlords if there were any human resources issues among staff. I'd be involved in [all of] that."
Goudie described the work "as a good fit with my practice." He added, "It was pretty general commercial legal work and doing it with a group of committed people who were like-minded [and] wanting to help make a difference in the fight against cancer."
During his time volunteering with the society, Goudie had an opportunity to become a division president.
"One of the partners in my law firm was on the board, was stepping off [it], and [they] asked me to step on in his place. And that's when I went on as the honorary solicitor, and about three or four years later [around the time], when the board was casting about looking for its next president, someone on the board asked me if I would consider doing that. My first reaction was, no, I'm happy just being the legal advisor. But pretty soon, I realized that if I could do more to serve the society, I'd be giving greater service, and I'd also be learning something," said Goudie.
Goudie went on to serve four years as the division president for the Sask. division of the Canadian Cancer Society.
By becoming the division president, Goudie was put on the Canadian Cancer Society national board, which he felt gave him "a much broader perspective in what the society does for the people."
The biggest accomplishment Goudie achieved during his time on the national board was developing a national call service for the society.
One of the division members in Sask. was able to connect with a worker from SaskTel. After meeting with a representative, Goudie asked them, "could we deliver a national call service efficiently and cost-efficiently in Saskatchewan?"
The SaskTel representative said, "absolutely," which led to Goudie pitching the idea at the next board meeting. The Canadian Cancer Society felt it was a good idea, so a national call centre was developed in Regina.
Because of his efforts with the society, Goudie received several awards."In 2001, I was presented at the national board with an honorary life membership, which meant a lot to me for the twenty-plus years that I had spent with the society. I received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 from my work with the Cancer Society," said Goudie.
The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was given to Canadians in 2002 to mark the 50 years of Queen Elizabeth ll. Those who received the award showed outstanding and exemplary contributions to their areas and or Canada in general.
Receiving the award made Goudie "want to do more" for the society. Part of the reason Goudie kept pushing to raise funds for cancer research was from his mother and his mother-in-law, who both passed away from cancer at certain points in his life.
To this day, Goudie is still giving money back to the society. "I acquired an insurance policy naming the Cancer Society as the beneficiary. And I'm still paying the annual premium, and someday the Cancer Society will benefit by that large sum [of money]," said Goudie.
He also still keeps in contact with the family of his friend, who passed away at 31. Goudie provided the family with financial support initially after the incident. Goudie and his wife were able to witness the family’s son grow up and know they're doing well now.
For those dealing with the disease, Goudie gave encouraging words to those currently dealing with cancer. "Never give up hope. Do what the doctors tell you to do. We use the word the fight against cancer, but it's true. The people who have a positive attitude and who work hard to get better and to survive will do so if they try."
When the day comes when cancer treatment is easily accessible, Goudie knows all his hard work and efforts will have paid off.
