Big Dave McLean, B.C. Read headline Saturday fundraiser for Hope Cancer Help Centre

"We bring people together when the need is there," says Jack Walton, the chair of the board for the Hope Cancer Help Centre in Saskatoon.

And Saturday night will be no different.

The centre, which fosters peer-to-peer support groups for people grappling with the emotional toll of cancer treatments, is hosting its third annual Raising Hope fundraiser tonight at the Cosmopolitan Seniors Centre.

Musicians Big Dave McLean and B.C. Read will be the featured performers, which is appropriate given that many of the centre's patients are artists in their own right, says Walton.

"I guess the commonality is that there's a lot of people without benefits and job security, and when hit with cancer and the immediacy of cancer treatment, all things come to a stop," he said.

Walton joined Saskatchewan Weekend host Shauna Powers Saturday morning to talk about the kind of help the centre offers. 

"It's a very little-known fact that before going into chemo, dental health is evaluated, and of course if you don't have any dental plan to do that evaluation, then it's a barrier," he said.

"So we help a lot of people do initial dental examinations and dental repairs before they can go into chemo."

For some people, the requests are more personal.

"One gentleman who was in palliative care had been a visual artist earlier in his life and he wanted to paint again one more time. So we rushed around and gathered art supplies and took them up to palliative care and he painted a few beautiful pictures before passing."

The April 22 fundraiser officially kicks off at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

"Big Dave is going to start off and B.C. is going to join in," said Walton. "It's not very often we get to see either of them but both of them together for sure in an acoustic blues setting. We're looking forward to it."