February fundraisers for two members of the Canadian photo industry

Fundraisers are being held this February to assist two members of the Canadian photo industry who have been fighting some life-altering illnesses. Toronto’s Heather Morton is a well-known art buyer and lecturer who runs a blog called Heather Morton Art Buyer that offers lots of great advice and information for working photographers. Last November Heather was diagnosed with a tumour in between her rib cage and shoulder blade. It’s a rare condition called Fibromatosis, a non-malignant sarcoma which grows aggressively and is hard to resolve. The standard course of treatment is 2 years of chemotherapy.

Heather’s friends and colleagues have rallied together to produce a fundraising event that will take place on February 5th at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. Naomi Harris, Daniel Ehrenworth and Brett Gundlock will be speaking about their latest projects, and 40 photographers have donated work to a silent print auction. All money raised from the sale of their prints will go directly to Heather. Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased by visiting her blog and clicking on the “Purchase Tickets” link in the right hand column.

A similar event is also being held in Kelowna, BC on Thursday, February 2nd to support Sean Connor, a staff photographer for the Kelowna Capital News. Last summer Sean was diagnosed with a chordoma tumour, a relentless bone cancer that occurs in the head and spine. In Sean’s case it formed from bone in the brainstem and he needed treatment unavailable in Canada. It’s called Proton Radiation and required Sean to travel to the Loma Linda Medical Center in California for two months of treatment. While the treatments were covered by B.C. Medical, the whole ordeal has still cost Sean and his wife a significant amount of money and they had to remortgage their home. In addition, his wife lost the job she was planning to return to due the economic downturn.

As such, a group of friends have organized a major benefit concert on his behalf. The Sean Connor Fundraiser is Thursday, Feb. 2, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the Kelowna Community Theatre by donation. Performances from Sherman Doucette and Deb Stone are already on the bill. The group is still looking for more silent auction item donations, any and all values, for which donors will gratefully be given credit that evening. For more information on the event, or to donate to Sean’s cause, please contact Heather McCullough at 250-808-0131 or Kim Calloway at 250-763-6397.

To read more about Sean’s story and his treatments in California, please see the complete article at the Kelowna Capital News website.