More than 20 years of remarkable fundraising and community building by REALTORS® and twin brothers Chris and Jamie Ruscheinski, started with one fraught sentence from their mother: “I have cancer.”
Their mother, Janice, died of breast cancer when they were 19 years old and still in high school. Two years before, when she was diagnosed and struggling, the twins threw small nightclub events to help her financially. A few thousand dollars went towards making her more comfortable, whether it was a pizza here and there or paying the rent.
After she passed, Chris and Jamie dedicated themselves to putting on bigger and better events to raise more and more money to battle cancer in her honour. What started as a few efforts grew into a backyard BBQ with live music at their dad’s house and then became a large and celebrated annual concert held at a venue for thousands of ticket holders.
Now the Langley, B.C.-based “Property Twins” are 42 and they’ve raised a total of more than $5.7 million through their various fundraising events to battle cancer.
Gone Country is their annual, largest fundraiser. The ninth one, held on July 22 this summer, drew more than 5,000 people to Cloverdale’s Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre. The one-day event attracted more than 300 volunteers and raised $1,007,000 as the Reklaws, Tyler Joe Miller and many other performers took to the stage. This year featured two live stages, 20 bars, 15 food trucks, a huge beer garden and much more.
“Our mom loved country music, she loved to laugh and she would have had a great time at Gone Country,” says Chris. “She would be really proud of us.”
The brothers mutually hatched the idea of throwing a big concert one night while enjoying a few beers. They aimed to make a difference in the community in the fight against cancer. So, they began with a manageable step, raising $22,000 by selling raffle tickets to 150 friends for the backyard BBQ.
The next year, the funds and number of friends who attended both doubled. While their dad was proud, says Chris, it was time to book the next year at the Langley Event Centre, which raised $109,000. When they hosted their first Gone Country concert at the Amphitheatre in 2013 (the pandemic required a hiatus of a few years), they attracted 2,000 people and raised $198,000.
Every year brought more concert goers, more volunteers and more money to donate against cancer.
“Local businesses stepped in to help, sponsors have grown and there are more volunteers, cutting costs, so it’s very much a community effort,” says Chris. “Everyone involved has their hearts in the right place. It can be very personal. Some have lost friends or family to cancer. They want to pitch in so that more proceeds can go to fight cancer.”
Knowing the financial challenges that families face when a member has cancer, the twins created “raise it for your cause,” where people can sell tickets for Gone Country and then donate the money they’ve raised to a person of their choosing who is suffering from cancer.
“One of the hardest things is seeing families who have raised money this way to fight cancer and then lost someone, sometimes a child,” says Chris. “We still see them the following year, they come out to help.”
The Langley and B.C. real estate community has been awesome and supportive, he says, with agencies and REALTORS® buying VIP tickets and helping to both stage and tear down the event properly after it’s all over.
Along with the concert, various other events created by the twins for raising cancer-fighting funds include a Rad Santa event, Banger in the Hangar, Beach BBQ, Cure is the New Black and more.
The money raised by Twins Cancer Fundraising goes directly to cancer-related charities, organizations and families that are facing heart-breaking changes.
“We didn’t really know what we were getting into in the beginning but we decided to reach out for help from our own family and friends,” says Chris. “We could have never done all of this ourselves. Ever. And as it all grew, we learned and we grew, along with our supporters and crew, who are essential to making all of this happen.”
Now that the twins are on the board of directors for the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation, they feel they’re just getting started.
“Through all of this, we’ve learned that we have the best friends that anyone could ever have,” says Chris. “You can count on them for anything and we never forget it. Everyone has their heart into the fundraising and that is what makes it so special.”
