Why The D10 is coming back...

December 7, 2022

W680 d10 hou promo 030 It is difficult to justify the discontinuation of something that works, particularly when its social impact is deliberate and profound.

The D10 never stopped because of itself, but rather COVID challenged every aspect of it.  We aren’t unique in this manner.  

But why bring it back rather than create something new?  I believe we are uniquely offered an opportunity to do both despite how oxymoronic that may sound.  

See, The D10’s experience hasn’t ever been the exact same year over year.  It was wildly different from 2012-2014 when the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) owned the naming rights.  D10 ‘birthed’ much of what RBC still does to this day to support the causes and communities paramount to its franchise.  But it looked nothing like D10 experiences that came afterwards.  

There’s more to it.

The benefit of time brings clarity.  It helps to crystallize what, in fact, matters, what brings fulfillment, what’s worth your time, and where opportunity resides.

Personally, I miss building, supporting, and challenging a continuously evolving community.  I have always found it easy, perhaps natural, to respect those deliberately squeezing everything out of life.  I needed that.  I still do.  Maybe others feel the same.  

From 2009 through 2019, D10 brought together communities in markets nationwide whose collective efforts produced a profound impact on pediatric cancer.  Lifelong friendships formed.  Marriages materialized.  Undeniably, lives improved.  There were always headwinds and, looking back, some of those challenges still seem insurmountable, yet D10 always found a way to survive and, often, to thrive.  All that aside, I'm still struck by this moment.  

On November 3rd, 2015, I joined a world-class pediatric oncologist for dinner.  Just the two of us.  I asked her what she still found most challenging after decades of treating pediatric cancer patients.  Without hesitating, she says (to paraphrase), “I still can’t sleep the night before I have to deliver a cancer diagnosis to parents.”  She added that after decades of experience, doctors and staff can sense which kids will fight.
Cancer does not discriminate.  Cancer still challenges children to fight, to not give up on their lives.  Many answer the bell.  So as long as they still have to, so will I and I look forward to doing so alongside the greatest community I can assemble.

Bring it,

Dave
Founder, The D10