Maike van Niekerk is about to get started.
The Corner Brook girl was the winner of the “start inspiring, non-profit” category of the "Start Something with Alesse" online contest.
She pocketed $5,000 to go towards her goal of starting a fund to help pay for travel costs to St. John’s for cancer patients and will be partnered with a mentor to help get her idea off the ground.
Inspired by her mother Katrin, who died of breast cancer, van Niekerk will begin fundraising for Katrin’s Karepackage by biking across the island, symbolizing cancer patients’ long journey to access treatment.
The contest was determined by online voting through Facebook, which ended on March 3.
