VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 19, 2017) - Mining for Miracles, the BC mining community's longstanding fundraising campaign for BC Children's Hospital, raised $1,156,730 on May 18 at its signature event -- the Teck Celebrity Pie Throw. Participants raised funds by volunteering to take a pie in the face while asking friends, family and colleagues to pledge their support.

This year, representatives from Teck, Goldcorp, Eldorado Gold, Atlantic Gold, Capstone, Fednav, Hatch, Golder, Fluor, Tetra Tech, CWA Engineers, Finning, Ausenco, Amec Foster Wheeler, Cassels Brock, Blakes, and the Mining Suppliers Association of BC participated in the Pie Throw.

"The Teck Celebrity Pie Throw is such a fun, high spirited, community event that unites the mining industry for a great cause -- the health and well-being of BC's children," said Teri Nicholas, President and

CEO of BC Children's Hospital Foundation. "We can always rely on them to draw a crowd, and inspire the philanthropy that transforms the lives of children and families who rely on BC Children's Hospital."

"The success of Pie Throw is truly a testament to the generosity of the mining industry," said Joanne Klein, co-chair, Mining for Miracles and Vice President, People at Goldcorp. "As a former Pie Throw participant, I can tell you that friends, family and supporters of the industry make it possible, and they have done it again this year."

"For the past fifteen years, Pie Throw has brought together representatives from across the mining industry in support of BC's sick and injured children," said Jeff Hanman, co-chair, Mining for Miracles and Vice President, Corporate Affairs at Teck. "We were proud to exceed our fundraising goal of $800,000, which will go to creating the new TRACE program at BC Children's Hospital."

In 2017 and 2018, Mining for Miracles will raise approximately $2.9 million to support the development of TRACE. TRACE will work towards providing children across British Columbia with personalized medicine using the patient's own cells to prevent rejection of organ transplants, kill cancer cells and fight infection.

Mining for Miracles funding will establish two state of the art facilities for the TRACE program, giving children in British Columbia access to the best and most current cell therapies and enabling BC Children's Hospital and its Research Institute to develop new and better cell therapy and transplantation technologies. 100% of funds raised at Pie Throw will go to developing TRACE.

The partnership of BC Children's Hospital Foundation and Mining for Miracles is a leading example of how industry, institutions and social-profit organizations can work together to provide world-class health care to children and families across BC.

Visit www.miningformiracles.ca for more information.

About Mining for Miracles

Every year volunteers from the mining community work together through Mining for Miracles to help improve the quality of health care for children in our province. Through its support of the construction of facilities and acquisition of specialized medical equipment at the hospital, Mining for Miracles is helping to keep BC Children's Hospital at the forefront of pediatric care excellence. Visit www.miningformiracles.ca for more information and to donate.

About BC Children's Hospital Foundation

BC Children's Hospital is the province's only full-service acute-care pediatric hospital. Last year, BC Children's Hospital treated more than 84,000 children. The money raised by the foundation supports BC Children's Hospital, its research institute, and Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children. For more information, visit www.bcchf.ca.

Backgrounder:

Through Mining for Miracles support, TRACE will establish two state of the art facilities, a Translational Biomarker Facility and a Clinical Cell Therapy Facility.

Translational Biomarker Facility

• A first of its kind in Canada, the facility will be dedicated to innovative monitoring of patients undergoing organ transplantation or cell therapy.
• The facility will allow physicians to better predict when a child is at risk of developing infection, late complications or transplant rejection.
• Earlier identification allows clinicians to provide treatment to minimize risk, improve health and save children's lives

As an example, a child who has received a kidney transplant currently needs multiple biopsies to screen for early signs of rejection. This is an invasive process that requires deep sedation and a hospital stay. With the establishment of the Translational Biomarker Facility, it is anticipated that in the near future, a simple urine test will become a first line of surveillance to understand if the transplanted organ is at risk of being rejected.

Clinical Cell Therapy Facility

• Cell therapies offer exciting approaches that, for example, utilize the patient's own immune cells to kill cancer cells and stop viral infections.
• Currently, children in British Columbia can only access this treatment in the US at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Will provide a new treatment for children with relapsed leukemia that has been effective in over 90% of cases in clinical trials

The infrastructure enabled by the TRACE Program, will give children and families access to the best and most current therapies available. It will also enable BC Children's Hospital Research Institute to become a leader in cell therapies and transplantation for children in BC.

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