Learn more about us, our history,
and our plans for the future!
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Coda is an initiative that started out as a student club at Marianopolis College in 2019.
With the goal of raising funds and awareness for the cause, we organized a variety of events, such as bake sales, bagging sessions at local grocery stores, awareness events, and more.
Nearly $2,000 was raised within our first year of operation!
In late 2021, Coda was relaunched as a non-profit organization in official collaboration with the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), together with a complete brand refresh and a medical-student-led administration.
Following the relaunch, we managed to raise $40,000 in just over a year!
Today, Coda has branches in 12 different academic institutions, including every faculty of medicine in Quebec. Each Coda seed organizes its own events but joins forces with all the others to help with our larger annual events and campaigns. In total, we are now working with over 100 dedicated student members, none of whom receive any form of monetary compensation for their work.
We may have a new look and a larger team, but our mission remains unchanged: to minimize cancer's burden on all Canadians.
Part of our activities consists of raising funds and awareness for cancer patients across Canada. Examples include our annual World Cancer Day event, where we emphasize the importance of primary and secondary cancer prevention by presenting actionable steps to reduce cancer risk and improve early detection. We also invite guest speakers to share their experiences and provide invaluable insights on how to support close friends or family members suffering from cancer.
Additionally, we organize an annual Teddy Bear Clinic in collaboration with the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) to assemble gift bags for all the hospitalized children at the Montreal Children's Hospital. The event familiarizes children with the medical environment, procedures, and tests, thereby reducing stress and anxiety.
On top of all these events, we are proud to provide services directly to cancer patients. Our Chit Chat program, for instance, consists of trained volunteers who meet with cancer patients to provide direct psychosocial support. The first phase of this program was a resounding success, and we hope to greatly expand it in the near future.
We are currently working on a number of ambitious projects, including the expansion of our Chit Chat program.
Our main objective for the future of Coda is to diversify our services for cancer patients and primary caregivers while gradually improving all of our large-scale annual events and campaigns.
With tens of ambitious and hardworking medical students on our team, we are sure to leave a lasting positive impact on the lives of Canadian cancer patients.
