Red Hamilton’s Third Annual Golf & Grill Raises Awareness and Funds for Melanoma Canada

It was a great day for a great cause at Tsawwassen Springs on Thursday, as the third annual Melanoma Canada Golf & Grill Vancouver brought together golfers, alumni, and supporters to raise awareness about melanoma and the importance of early detection.

“When I got to the parking lot, there was a huge lineup for the Mole Mobile, so that was exciting that it's working, and it's helping,” said Canucks Head Equipment Manager Brian “Red” Hamilton. “The West Mole Mobile went to Alberta this year, had some success there and spent half the summer in Alberta, half the summer in B.C., and next year it's back here.”

This special tournament is jointly hosted by Melanoma Canada and the Jess and Red Hamilton Fund. The event has had strong support from the Vancouver Canucks and other partners since its inception.

Hamilton continues to be a driving force behind the cause, using his platform to save lives and spread awareness about skin cancer. He says it’s incredibly humbling to see people step up to support a cause and also very encouraging to see people getting screened.

The tournament helped bring Melanoma Canada’s Mole Mobile to B.C. - getting it to the province a year sooner than expected (2024). This summer, the West Mole Mobile screened 1,300 people, and detected several cases of skin cancers, including melanoma.

Last year, the Jess & Red Hamilton Fund also launched the Sun Guardians Grant Program which provides daycares, camps, recreation programs and sports leagues with free UVP clothing, sunscreen, shade structures and learning resources to provide sun-safe programming and sun-safety education to young people across B.C.

For Hamilton, having worked at outdoor summer camps, he sees the program as a full-circle effort to ensure all youth have access to the protection they need to enjoy outdoor activities safely. The goal is to raise $200,000 over the next two years to support the Sun Guardians Grant Program.

CEO of Melanoma Canada Falyn Katz reached out to Red when his life saving story went viral in October 2021 at a Seattle Kraken game, when a fan in the stands messaged Red on her cel phone to get a mole on his neck checked out.

“We're truly grateful to Jess and to Red for continuing to host this event, for helping to raise funds and awareness,” Katz said. “Red could have taken his story and said, ‘I'm okay, I'm good, and I'm going to move on,’ but he chooses to leverage it to continue to educate the public, raising funds to support the melanoma and skin cancer community. The partnership with them means everything."

Katz talked about the importance of awareness and prevention in the face of rising mortality rates. Incidence rates of melanoma have tripled in the last 30 years, but it is one of the few cancers that can be prevented.

Among those lending support was former Canucks defenceman Dave Babych, attending the tournament for the third time. The 19-year NHL veteran, who played over 400 games with the Canucks said the tournament has changed his own outlook.

“Our alumni, we're getting a little older, so we’ve got to keep an eye on things too, right,” Babych said.

"Last year, they had the little mobile trailers where you go in and they take a peek at you, and are poking and prodding you, but in a good way, where some of the things you might not have noticed. Thank God I'm all good right now, but I'm sure somebody detected something, and if it helps one person avoid something very serious, that's great. The awareness is good, because a lot of things, people just kind of ignore, and now it's time not to.”

Donations for the Sun Guardians Grant Program can be made to the Jess and Red Hamilton Fund here: http://bit.ly/jessandredhamiltonfund.