May 11, 2007

Osteoporosis Canada's Patron wraps up successful 'Pearls of Wisdom' tour in time for Mother’s Day

Eleven cities and over 6000 km of pearls later, Osteoporosis Canada’s Patron Maureen McTeer wound up in her home town of Ottawa this Thursday, sharing her much-talked-about “Pearls of Wisdom” with her own mother, Beatrice.

A well-known advocate for women's health issues, Ms. McTeer touched down in Ottawa last week to cap off a three week tour across Canada in which she acted as national spokesperson for the Pearls of Wisdom fundraising and awareness campaign, a program sponsored by Dairy Farmers of Canada.

In media interviews and meetings with elected officials from Vancouver to Halifax, Ms. McTeer spoke extensively about osteoporosis, spreading the message about simple lifestyle changes – such as eating a well-balanced diet with calcium-rich foods, and engaging in regular exercise – as ways of reducing the risk of developing osteoporosis.

Throughout the tour, Ms. McTeer wore her “Pearls of Wisdom” with pride, a symbol to remind Canadians of the need for education about this disease that currently affects one in four women, and one in eight men over the age of 50.

"Giving the Pearls of Wisdom is a great way to remind everyone that, like pearls, your bones are precious and you need to take care of them," says McTeer. "The pearls are a perfect gift for birthdays, graduations, anniversaries and Mother's Day."

Canadians can support Osteoporosis Canada by ordering from the Pearls of Wisdom gift collection, which features a variety of elegant freshwater pearl jewelry starting at $10.

Maureen is pictured above with her mother, Beatrice McTeer, at a special wine and cheese tasting event hosted by Osteoporosis Canada’s Ottawa Chapter on Thursday night.

• Click here to check out the Pearls of Wisdom
  
  
• To see more photos of the tour, take a look on the right hand side of this page, and follow the links.
  
  
• To see more photos of the Wine & Cheese event, visit the Ottawa Chapter’s page .
  

News Notes
from the Tour

May 3

Pearls in Parliament

Maureen with parliamentary secretary Stephen Fletcher, Dr. Famida Jiwa, Acting President & CEO of Osteoporosis Canada, and Isabelle Neiderer from Dairy Farmers of Canada

Interview in Ottawa

The Pearls make a stop on Rogers Daytime with TL Rader and Derek Fagan

April 30

Visiting with Minister Smitherman
 
Maureen poses with Minister of Health & Long Term Care, Hon. George Smitherman (R),  Joanne Gallagher and Dr. Earl Bogoch (L).

---