100Brokers Members voted and we’re very pleased to announce that we will be sending a cheque in the amount of $10,000 to the Glover Family, our Recipient for the 2nd Quarter vote of 2019.

“This gift means the world to our family.  It helps ease some of the financial pressure so that we can focus on John’s return to health.  We are so grateful and would like to thank the whole 100 Brokers That Care team from the bottom of our hearts.” – Andrea Glover

The Glover family is a hard-working family of five residing on 120 acres about 20 minutes west of Nanton, Alberta.  John and Andrea are both self employed. John is a framer and Andrea, a mortgage broker since 2008, is licensed with a brokerage in High River. John has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer. With no guarantees of success of the treatments, the outcome of his illness, nor an end in sight for their financial struggles they need help.

Nomination Story:
The Glover family is a hard-working family of five residing on 120 acres about 20 minutes west of Nanton, Alberta. Nanton is a rural ranching / farming community located 100 kms south of Calgary with a population of approximately 2100 people.

The family unit consists of John (51), Andrea (46), their three daughters; Kalyn (17), Keeley (15), True (12), two dogs, four cats and five ranch horses.

This spring the normally energetic and physically strong John was not feeling well, he felt weak and his energy level had dropped significantly. This was very out of the norm and cause for great concern, so he went for a check-up. He was immediately sent to the hospital in High River where the doctors performed a myriad of tests and found FOUR significant tumours on his pancreas. In early May John was diagnosed Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer that required aggressive treatment and surgery. Before surgery would be possible John would have to undergo months of intensive chemotherapy to shrink the tumours. He is currently in the midst of this treatment which is occurs every week (Monday to Wednesday – three consecutive days) for three months. Upon completion of these treatments his oncologists will perform another scan to determine how much progress has been made. With any luck the tumours will have shrunk to a size where surgery can be performed. He and his family have a very long road ahead!

Current treatments take place at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary, a two-hour drive from home. The Glovers hope to have future treatments performed closer to home, in High River which is just under an hour of travel from their home. It is an expensive and timely trek to and from Foothills Hospital and the travel alone takes a huge toll on John.

John and Andrea are both self employed. John is a framer and Andrea, a mortgage broker since 2008, is licensed with a brokerage in High River.

As we know very well, the Alberta economy has been extremely poor over the past number years, especially in the construction, real estate and mortgage financing industries, which has already put significant financial strain on the Glover family’s finances. They were ‘just’ getting by and John’s illness has made an even further immediate, negative and significant financial impact. As a framer, John’s job is very physically and mentally demanding and he is unable to work. He will not be able to do so for the unforeseeable future.

Andrea has had to step back from her mortgage business to take care of John and their children. They now have no income coming in and are living off of the balance of small savings (eroded from many years of a depressed economy) and the help of their local community and family. The Glover’s invested in accident insurance for John in the event he was injured at work however it does not apply in current circumstances.

Along with the traditional chemotherapy treatments, John is also receiving naturopathic treatments at a cost over $2000 per month which is not covered by Alberta Health. Other medications are for pain management and anti nausea (caused by the chemotherapy).

They have a bi-weekly mortgage payment ($984 bi-weekly), two vehicle payments for work truck and family car ($1,654), property taxes ($4,000 per year), daily living expenses then of course all everything that comes with three teenagers. They live a humble, non-extravagant lifestyle but the pennies add up and they have cut back in every way they can. The thought of selling their family home is devastating and a last resort but they will do whatever they have to do.

John and Andrea’s passion is for their family, their 3 amazing daughters and their rural / ranching way of life. Their girls participate in high school rodeos and enter local rodeos over the summer. They travel to these rodeos together as a family and are so proud of their girls amazing achievements. John and Andrea are dedicated volunteers at their local rodeos and have served on the board of the Alberta High School Rodeo Association. They have been doing whatever they can to keep the girls going down the rodeo road, allowing them to live out their dreams as teenagers should.

The girls are extremely hardworking and fully understand the family’s current situation. They are scared but also brave and realistic. Their two oldest daughters have obtained part-time jobs to help out with family expenses and rodeo costs (should they be able to attend) and they are all fully responsible for the chores and care around their property. Living in a small community does not offer them many opportunities to make extra money with part time jobs but they have stepped up and are doing their very best. The community is rallying around the Glover’s by helping with their daughters, but the financial burdens are truly too much to bear.

With no guarantees of the success of the treatments, the eventual outcome of John’s illness, nor an end of their struggles in sight they need help and they need help now.

Andrea is one of our own. Part of our mortgage industry family. The words that come to mind are “it takes a village” and at this time I hope we can rely on the kindness and generosity of our industry village to help them. This is exactly what ‘100 Brokers Who Care’ is all about.

Thank you to Hali Noble for bringing this Cause to our attention.