Sault Ste. Marie rounds out the top five cities in the province for the most money raised in this year's Ontario Kidney Walk.
The event drew more than 1,500 people across the province and is a fundraiser for the Kidney Foundation of Canada. The Sault walk raised more than $50,000 and puts the city only behind Ottawa, Mississauga, Hamilton and Toronto.
Top team honours go to Nephro On The Go – they raised more than $28,000. The team is mostly made up of nurses from the Algoma Regional Renal Program joined by Mike Moore, a local contractor and dialysis patient.
"When I started doing this, I didn't realize how many people have kidney disease," said Moore, adding the cause is near and dear to him.
"Mike putting himself out there and being vulnerable is huge," said the team’s captain Sarah Shea.
"Talking about it as staff and as folks that deal with this on a daily basis is one thing, but being able to put your story out there and be vulnerable, Mike has quite the reputation in our community, and so really being able to access that voice is huge."
And taking the prize as youngest team captain is Memphis Rollin, who leads team Super Memphis.
Rollin has chronic kidney disease.
"He's been battling it ever since he was born and he does only have one kidney," said his mother, Madison.
"Obviously he means the world to us, so now that he's old enough to be able to participate in these events, we're super happy to come out and support him and support others who are going through this journey like him."
- Download the CTV News app now and get local alerts on your device
- Get local breaking news and updates sent to your email inbox
- Want more local news? Check out the Sault Ste. Marie page
Tracy Patrick won the prize for top individual fundraiser – having raised more than $8,000. Patrick donated a kidney to her sister 24 years ago.
