Hi, it’s Christopher — founder of The Heather Cutler Foundation.

If you signed our petition, then you already believe what we believe: Canadians facing pancreatic cancer deserve better. Full stop.

This isn’t just a cause to me. It’s personal. I founded this organization in honour of my mom, Heather, right here in Newfoundland — where we came face-to-face with every barrier that too many Canadians know all too well. A lack of clinical trials. Poor access to molecular testing. Long wait times. A healthcare system that wasn’t built to support the reality of this disease.

And we realized something undeniable: no one was coming to fix it for us.

So — like Newfoundlanders and Atlantic Canadians have always done — we stepped up and started building something ourselves.

Everything you’ve seen from us so far? 100% self-funded. 100% community-driven. No big grants. No corporate backers. Just a volunteer team with determination, creativity, and a lot of late nights.

✔️ We raised over $14,000 for pancreatic cancer research.

✔️ We launched two federal petitions demanding a national response.

✔️ We became Newfoundland and Labrador’s first-ever voice in the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition and in Cancer Action Now.

✔️ And we launched something we’re incredibly proud of — the Pancreatic Cancer Policy Builders of Tomorrow.

That program was months in the making — a fully built 16-week policy research project where students from Memorial University are working on the biggest issues facing Canadians with pancreatic cancer: lack of clinical trial access, barriers to biomarker testing, and the massive geographic disparities in care.

And we’re not stopping there. Next month, we’ll be announcing From Coast to Cure — our first research grant focused on ensuring that researchers with Atlantic representation are part of the solution, alongside targeted patient grants to help Canadians navigate this brutal disease.

But before we launch those grants… people need to know who we are.

They need to see us. They need to hear our story. They need to know that Newfoundland, Labrador, and Atlantic Canada now have a voice in this fight — and we’re not going anywhere.

Summer is our shot to do that.

In Newfoundland, outdoor event season is short. We don’t get year-round festivals like bigger provinces. This is the window.

You’ll find us this summer at:

St. John’s Pride in the Park
The Royal St. John’s Regatta
And multiple weekends inside Avalon Mall throughout August.

✔️ Our insurance? Paid.

✔️ Booth fees? Covered.

✔️ Every single startup cost to get us here? Self-funded.

But now — we need your help to show up right.

👉 We’ve created an Amazon Gift List — small, simple items that help transform an empty booth into a space that captures attention, starts conversations, and tells our story.

These aren’t expensive items. Most start around $8. There’s something for everyone. Balloons. Cookie bags. Table decorations. Materials for signage. All the things that help us look as bold and powerful as the mission we carry.

➡️ Here’s the gift list:

🔗https://www.amazon.ca/registries/gl/guest-view/1DR3VIWYUJGKD

Because this isn’t just a nonprofit. This is a movement.

From day one, we’ve said — everyone in this community is a partner in building this. Whether you signed a petition, shared a post, donated, volunteered — you’re part of this.

And we believe in doing this differently. That’s why next month, we’re launching Build-a-Nonprofit — a quarterly community engagement event where we open the doors, pull back the curtain, and share how this organization is being built, how decisions are made, and where we’re going next.

✔️ Transparency isn’t a slogan for us. It’s the foundation.

✔️ This organization belongs to the community.

You can follow the first Build-a-Nonprofit event happening in August — we’ll be posting updates, livestreams, and behind-the-scenes content on our Facebook page.

👉 Follow us on Facebook to watch it all happen in real time.

So — if you’ve ever wanted to be able to say “I helped build that” — this is that moment.

If everyone reading this picked just one item from the list, we’d be ready for every event this summer. Ready to tell this story. Ready to be seen. Ready to make sure Newfoundland, Atlantic Canada, and Canadians everywhere know that we are here — and we are fighting.

Thank you for believing in this. Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for believing that Canadians facing pancreatic cancer deserve more than pity. They deserve action. They deserve change.

Let’s build it together. 💜

With gratitude and fire,

Christopher Cutler

Founder, The Heather Cutler Foundation