Stephanie Reid was reaching a breaking point. Six months into leukemia treatments for her 2-year-old daughter Keaton, the stress was getting to her. That’s when people from Camp Ooch asked if Keaton wanted to join one of their programs.

“Keaton said yes, she left my side,” Reid said. “They were giving her the opportunity to actually be a child in this horrible situation. She had a smile on her face, she had little friends she could play with, and I didn’t have to worry ... I will be forever indebted to them.”

Camp Ooch provides year-round programming for children with cancer. It includes a summer camp, a bereavement camp for children who have lost siblings to cancer, and in-hospital programs for children.

One source of their fundraising is the Sporting Life 10K, which will see thousands of runners and walkers lace up on Sunday.

“What started off being a community run has now become a day in the calendar for a lot of people to raise a lot of money to give children with cancer the opportunity to go to camp,” said Jean Paul Corbeil, the director of marketing and advertising at Sporting Life.

The net proceeds from the race will go to Camp Ooch.

The route begins just north of Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. and will continue down Yonge St., ending at the lakeshore on Fort York Blvd.

“We provide Torontonians an opportunity to take part, to celebrate your loved ones and friends and family on Mother’s Day and to make a difference in the life of a child with cancer,” said Alex Robertson, CEO of Camp Ooch.

Camp Ooch works with about 1,500 kids every year. The 35-year-old charity started as a summer camp for children with cancer in Muskoka, but now people from the organization meet children at the hospital from the beginning of their treatment and give them a chance to interact with other kids and enjoy themselves.

Reid’s relationship with Camp Ooch began in 2013, when Keaton was first diagnosed. Keaton and her older sister Mika have been active participants since. They began participating in the Sporting Life 10K in 2015 by walking together.

“May 10, 2015 was the last day that Keaton ever took a chemo pill, and it fell on the day of the Sporting Life 10K,” Reid said. “We had signed up as a team, and we vowed that every Mother’s Day we would get together as a family and with our friends who were supporting us, and we walk with them.”

This year, Reid and her family have raised around $19,000 for the race.

Corbeil says the race brings in just over $2 million in fundraising each year, with around 20,000 runners and walkers.