Rob Dyer in front of a Skate 4 Cancer booth

Skate4Cancer (later known as DreamLoveCure) was a cancer advocacy

foundation Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

started by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Rob Dyer in 2004. Skate4Cancer focused on raising awareness for various

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

cancer screening The objective of cancer screening is to detect cancer before symptoms appear, involving various methods such as blood tests, urine tests, DNA tests, and medical imaging. The purpose of screening is early cancer detection, to make the cancer easie ...

, and

preventative care Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health a ...

Creation and Skateboard Marathons

In 2004, Dyer lost a friend, and his paternal grandmother to

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

, along with his maternal grandmother and mother to

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

all within a span of six months. Dyer cites this often as the catalyst for his first

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...

marathon to raise awareness for cancer. In 2004, Dyer, at only 19, began his first skate marathon from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto Area, Greater Toron ...

, a total distance of roughly 8,000 km. Shortly after embarking, Skate4Cancer lost one of its major sponsors due to lack of publicity. During this marathon, Dyer and his support crew were stopped by law enforcement for skating on

interstate highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...

, and being redirected around towns. These unforeseen issues added considerable distance to the marathon, causing Dyer to hit 8,000 km before getting to Newmarket. Dyer suffered a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running ...

to his ankle, and was forced to end the marathon early. This initial marathon raised below $100,000 for The Cancer Society and the Princess Margaret Hospital. Four years later in 2008, Skate4Cancer organized another cross country skate, this time from

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, with a total distance of 7,500 km. Skate4Cancer started the skate in June 2008, and finished four months later in November. The next Skate4Cancer marathon took place in early 2010, this time in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. During the Australia portion of the marathon, Dyer was hit by a car while skating, and was unable to continue skating due to a groin injury sustained in the accident. Several members of the support crew needed treatment for

heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun-stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstro ...

. After the accident and heat stroke incident, Skate4Cancer cancelled the remainder of the New Zealand and Australia marathon. Skate4cancer skated a total of 3667 km before returning to Canada. In 2011, Dyer and Skate4Cancer started a new marathon across

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and completed within three months. That same year, Skate4Cancer secured a sponsorship from

West 49 West 49 Inc., is a Canadian specialty retailer of fashion and apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment related to the action sports lifestyle. The company was founded in 1987 as Jumbo Entertainment, Inc. to manage the Jumbo Video franchis ...

, and raised over $100,000 from donations and t-shirt sales to support Wellspring Cancer Support. Major sponsors of Skate4Cancer included

Element Skateboards Element Skateboards is an American skateboard company, founded in 1992 by Johnny Schillereff, that manufactures skateboard decks, trucks, wheels, griptape, wax, apparel, and footwear. In 2014, Element created and moved to The Branch, a creativ ...

, and Circa Shoes, which supported Dyer's plans for a cross-Canada tour of colleges and universities to provide students with cancer prevention information.

2009 Ashley Kirilow scam

In 2009, Skate4Cancer was one of several cancer awareness and advocacy organizations

scammed A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibili ...

by Ashley Kirilow. Kirilow shaved her head, eyebrows, and starved herself to appear as though she was undergoing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

treatments, and frequently used

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

to update her nearly 4,000 followers on her condition. Kirilow began the scam in 2008, after having a

benign Malignancy () is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse; the term is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A ''malignant'' tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous benign tumor, ''benign'' tumor in that a malig ...

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

removed from her breast. Kirilow created a fake charity called "Change for a Cure" (sometimes referenced as "Change for the Cure"), which was never registered as a nonprofit and collected nearly $20,000. Kirilow contacted Skate4Cancer, who flew her to

Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...

after stating it was her final wish. Skate4Cancer sent out a statement after allegations came forward about Kirilow, stating: "For your peace of mind, Skate4Cancer has no formal or informal affiliation to Change For A Cure. There have been no jointly held events or fundraising initiatives. Skate4Cancer's involvement with Ms. Kirilow was based solely on fulfilling what the organization believed to be a legitimate final wish from a terminally ill individual."

The Cure is Knowledge tour

The Cure is Knowledge Tour was another cancer awareness effort by Skate4Cancer, focused on raising awareness for cancer prevention through the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. Started in 2008, The Cure is Knowledge Tour organized concerts with local bands and artists for free concerts across Canada, with an emphasis on

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

bands. Musicians that supported The Cure is Knowledge Tour included

Shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike. "", Canadian Online Explorer, CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are Georg ...

Billy Talent Billy Talent is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup change ...

Cancer Bats Cancer Bats are a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario. To date, they have released seven studio albums and six extended plays; with their most recent LP, ''Psychic Jailbreak'', having been released on 15 April 2022. The band is cu ...

City and Colour Dallas Michael John Albert Green (born September 29, 1980) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who records under the name City and Colour. He is also known for his contributions as a singer, rhythm guitarist, songwrite ...

Moneen Moneen (sometimes stylised as .moneen.) is a Canadian indie rock band from Brampton, Ontario. History Moneen formed in 1999 after the dissolution of another band, called Perfectly Normal. The founding members were singer/guitarist Kenny Bridges ...

, Silverstein,

All Time Low All Time Low is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Towson, Maryland, in 2003. Consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist/backing vocalist Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson ...

, and Lights. The Cure is Knowledge Tour also frequently worked with festivals like NXNE, SCENE Fest and

Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

under the Skate4Cancer logo, adding to their visibility. In 2007, Skate4Cancer organized their own live music event in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, marketed as Skate4Cancer Winnipeg. Money raised was donated to the Health Sciences Centre. The event was canceled after their 2013 event, citing lack of funding. In the fall of 2013, Skate4Cancer opened their first

pop-up shop Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to latch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

in Toronto, where clothing was sold to support Wellspring.ca and movember.com. Over $20,000 was raised as a result of the fundraiser.

Dream.Love.Cure Centre

In 2011, Rob Dyer announced his plan to create a children's cancer support centre called Dream Love Cure. Dream Love Cure, intended to be a place to support children "indirectly or directly impacted by the disease

ancer Ancer may refer to: *Abraham Ancer (born 1991), Mexican professional golfer *Jonathan Ancer, South African journalist, author, podcaster and media trainer *Ancer L. Haggerty (born 1944), inactive Senior United States District Judge *Jesús Ancer Ro ...

" In a 2014 blog, Skate4Cancer stated they would not be opening the Dream Love Cure Centre after Wellspring, a Canadian cancer support foundation and frequent partner organization, was starting their own youth-oriented support group.

References

{{Reflist , refs = {{cite news , url = http://feeds.vinaora.com/dreamlovecure.org/news%2Fan-update-from-the-s4c-team%3F+itemId=1137738981 , title = An Update from the S4C Team , publisher = dream love cure , author = , date = 2014-04-30 , page = , location = , accessdate = , quote = {{cite news , url=http://metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/681797/the-lytics-mise-en-scene-and-more-raise-awareness-with-skate4cancer-winnipeg/ , title=The Lytics, Mise En Scene and more raise awareness with Skate4Cancer Winnipeg , publisher=

Metro News Metro International is a Swedish media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the freesheet newspaper ''Metro''. The company was founded by Per Andersson, and started as a subsidiary of the Modern Times Group along with Viasat Broadcasti ...

Winnipeg , author=Jared Story , date=2013-05-23 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128214003/http://www.metronews.ca/news/winnipeg/2013/05/23/the-lytics-mise-en-scene-and-more-raise-awareness-with-skate4cancer-winnipeg.html , archivedate=2016-11-28 , accessdate=2017-02-04 , url-status=dead , quote=Skate4Cancer is a non-profit organization formed in 2003 by Rob Dyer. After losing multiple loved ones to cancer in a matter of months — including his mother and best friend — Dyer decided to skate from his Newmarket, Ont. home to Los Angeles to raise awareness of the deadly disease. {{cite news , url=http://www.samaritanmag.com/690/skate4cancers-rob-dyers-new-cause-dream-love-cure-centre , title=Skate4Cancer's Rob Dyer's New Cause: The Dream Love Cure Centre , publisher= Samaritan magazine , author=Nick Crewen , date=2011-05-18 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817194816/http://www.samaritanmag.com/690/skate4cancers-rob-dyers-new-cause-dream-love-cure-centre , archivedate=2016-08-17 , accessdate=2017-02-04 , url-status=dead , quote=Last year, Dyer took his Skate4Cancer cause outside North American borders for the first time, traveling to New Zealand and Australia. He had completed the New Zealand leg and was midway through Australia when tragedy struck. {{cite news , url=http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2009/05/19/9501976.html , title=Skate 4 Cancer , publisher=

Winnipeg Sun The ''Winnipeg Sun'' is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is owned by The Klein Group circa 2024.Following its acquisition of Sun Media, opinion plus an emphasis on local news stories, and ex ...

, date=2009-05-19 , accessdate=2010-09-05 , quote=Skate4Cancer combined 14 bands and varying styles of skateboarding competition to raise awareness of cancer prevention in youth at The Forks on May 16, 2009. , archivedate = 2011-07-18 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110718064428/http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2009/05/19/9501976.html , url-status = live {{cite news , url=http://www.insidetoronto.com/News/Etobicoke/article/31985 , title=Skate 4 Cancer raises funds for hospital , publisher=

Toronto Life ''Toronto Life'' is a monthly magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ''Toronto Life'' also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including ''Real Estate'', ''Stylebook'', ''Eati ...

, date=2009-07-02 , author=Chris Clay , accessdate=2010-09-05 , quote=The band list continues to grow as Sunday's Skate 4 Cancer concert draws closer. , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713040720/http://www.insidetoronto.com/News/Etobicoke/article/31985 , archivedate=2011-07-13 , url-status=live Cancer organizations based in Canada