![Youshaa El-Abed, Andrew Swan, Dora Cavallo-Medved, Karen Metcalfe, Maria Napigkit, Natasha Wiebe, Lisa Porter](http://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/civil/sites/uwindsor.ca.dailynews/files/styles/full/public/900_rbcgift.jpg?itok=NFqkSER3)
First-year biology student Maria Napigkit is getting behind the Windsor Cancer Research Group with a $150 donation to local research through the #Make150Count campaign of the Royal Bank of Canada.
Napigkit was among young people across the nation selected by the bank to participate in the campaign, which provides each of them with $150 for a cause to benefit their community. The program is part of RBC’s 150th anniversary celebrations and is intended to showcase the people who will lead and shape the country’s future, says RBC’s chief brand and communications officer Mary DePaoli.
Napigkit says she chose to donate her campaign monies to the Windsor Cancer Research Group because she believes that it will benefit the Windsor community, Canada and the world in educating the public about cancer and the concept of research.
“After I heard what the purpose of the group is, I wanted to show my support through this donation,” she says. “This is my own small way to make a difference, and I hope that someday the cancer education programs and cancer research programs created will advance in a way so that fewer people will suffer or have loved ones suffer from this disease.”
The group is a partnership of the University of Windsor and Windsor Regional Hospital to bring together local researchers and healthcare professionals to strengthen local cancer research programs and bridge collaborations with neighbouring cancer centres.