From Fairways to a Foundation
About 26 years ago, Doug Hawley, Rob Jeeves and Kirk Fisher made a simple plan to hold a golf tournament at Langley’s Redwoods Golf Course, where Hawley works as managing director.
That early idea has since expanded into a wildly popular annual event, Drive for the Cure, and has raised millions for foundations and charities across the Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver to benefit cancer prevention and treatment.
Over the last four years, hundreds of donors, golfers and volunteers have worked - and played - to help fulfill Drive for the Cure’s pledges for cancer equipment. The tournament has become a well-known event, with nearly 200 golfers and volunteers taking part every year.
In autumn 2024, Drive for the Cure Foundation matched all donations to Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation with a $50,000 donation to support cancer care and diagnostic tools at the hospital.
When they first launched the tournament, Fisher had just lost his mother to cancer. Since then, both Hawley and Jeeves have lost their own mothers to cancer. In early 2023, Fisher lost his father, local business icon Larry Fisher, to cancer as well. The elder Fisher’s construction firm, Lark Group Construction, has been the tournament’s title sponsor for more than two decades.
Ultimately, Drive for the Cure’s fundraising for Langley Memorial Hospital is driven by a shared concern for those facing cancer diagnoses among the organizers and a generous community, says Doug Hawley.
“I feel one of the reasons that Drive for the Cure Foundation has been so successful over the last 26 years is the partnerships that have been formed,” he says.
“It has grown into one large family, where everyone has been touched by cancer in some way.”
To learn more about cancer care at Langley Memorial Hospital, visit LCHHFoundation.com/cancer-care