How we face adversity is as individual as the challenges before us.

Kate Watt was 19 when her mom was diagnosed with cancer—worst case scenario: the disease was around her heart and lungs… she might have only two months to live. First, Kate withdrew from university just before final exams to spend more time with her mother. Then, she turned her passion for horses into a fundraiser for breast cancer research, targeting the disease that her mom was fighting.

Kate launched “Bringing Home the Dream,” in co-operation with the 2005 Edmonton Northlands Horse Show. She organized an in-field brunch for 200—at $250 a plate—and a show jumping competition for amateurs, with a $20,000 prize. Ticket sales and donations combined in the first year to raise $86,000.

The following year, Kate made a commitment to Dr. Michael Sawyer, the oncologist who discovered her mom’s tumour, to raise $300,000 over three years. He is researching alternatives to chemotherapy at the University of Alberta. The second annual event raised $100,000… the third added $125,000… the fourth and final brought the running total to an impressive $429,000.

In 2006, one of the guest speakers at Bringing Home the Dream was Elexis Ortleib, then seven years old, who was battling leukemia. There wasn’t a dry eye at the brunch as the child told her story. People like Elexis keep Kate focused, “This is why we’re here… this is why we’re doing this, so that these kids don’t have these stories.” This year, she teamed up with Kids with Cancer to donate several tables so that the kids could be a part of the event. She also volunteers at other Cross Cancer Institute events, like Row for Life.
The 23-year old will graduate with an education degree next year. She will also continue show jumping on the amateur circuit and has qualified for the Royal Horse Show in Toronto this fall. Kate’s next project will be with Free the Children, an organization that helps young people fundraise for children in Third World countries. She’s researching opportunities for building schools in Africa, with the idea of engaging her future students in the endeavour.

Thankfully, Kate’s mom is in remission, continuing to inspire—and be inspired by—her daughter, the quintessential volunteer.