{"id":38964,"date":"2026-09-24T14:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=38964"},"modified":"2026-09-24T14:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:09:11","slug":"local-teacher-rallies-students-hits-runway-for-cancer-care-community-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/local-teacher-rallies-students-hits-runway-for-cancer-care-community-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Local teacher rallies students, hits runway for cancer care, community support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September is always a busy month for Riley Allen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s back-to-school season for the Aurora French-immersion teacher, which brings its own challenges, but this year she\u2019s underscored her very personal story to community members hitting the stage for this month\u2019s Lip Sync Battle, raising vital funds for Victim Services of York Region, rallying her school community for the Terry Fox Run, and, on Sunday, taking the runway alongside children facing cancer and neurofibromatosis for the Enchanted Hope Foundation\u2019s gala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Enchanted Hope Foundation is a York Region-based non-profit that creates immersive community experiences for children and families across the GTA, capturing the imaginations of children through storytelling, connecting families, and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a cause very close to Allen\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a child, Allen was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer which left her with a reconstructed leg from the knee down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to help other children following similar journeys, Allen\u2019s mother wrote a storybook, \u201cRiley\u2019s Socks,\u201d which Allen herself parlayed into a line of inspirational loungewear and apparel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a really big support for me as a kid because growing up in school having this reconstructed leg that kind of looked extremely different from the rest of the kids, having my book as an outlet to explain to other kids what happened [helped], especially since it\u2019s such an intense word \u2013 I call it the \u2018Big, Scary C Word.\u2019 Being able to bring light to the Big, Scary C Word was really awesome throughout school. I feel like it helps show kids that you can go through something really bad, but there can be good outcomes to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow that I\u2019m older and a teacher, I also go into schools to talk about my leg, showing them that while something bad can happen, it doesn\u2019t mean that you treat someone differently because they may look different or have something special about them. It also teaches you to use kind words to yourself and others, which is a big thing that I teach my kids, especially when it comes to my leg, because I know what it\u2019s like when people can say mean things about something that you can\u2019t really change about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her work to spread this positivity is not focused exclusively on kids. Earlier this month, Allen joined a team organized by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce for Victim Services of York Region\u2019s Lip Sync Battle, hosted at Aurora Town Square. Calling themselves the Next Gen Collective, they went all in to support the cause, raising more than $3,000 in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She didn\u2019t have time to rest on her laurels. As the Terry Fox Run approached, she led her students in their own in-school event, which was an opportunity for her kids to learn more about her own cancer journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communities across Canada laced up for their local Terry Fox Runs on Sunday morning and, later that day, Allen was lacing up shoes altogether different as she took on the role as an ambassador for the Enchanted Hope Foundation\u2019s gala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought it was really cool when they asked me to walk down the runway with kids who are going through something like that. I think it is really cool because if I look back to Little Riley, I think being able to have an outlet like that would be really awesome,\u201d Allen told The Auroran just prior to the event. \u201cI just hope that being able to see me grown up doing what I\u2019m doing after having gone through something so intense brings them hope and I\u2019m a source of hope for other kids. It\u2019s just insane to me that I even get to do something like this, especially since I used to be one of those kids. It\u2019s like a big full-circle moment for me. The things they do to help kids identify as not just their sickness and letting them be creative with what they\u2019re going to wear and what storybook characters they\u2019re going to be, I think it\u2019s just super cool \u2013 especially when I have my own children\u2019s book!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always look for opportunities to share my story and, at the end of the day, that\u2019s all I really want to do. I\u2019ve got this leg with me, I\u2019ve grown up to learn ways to express myself through it and being able to share my story. I know that it impacts people in a positive way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeptember is a busy month, but I wouldn\u2019t have asked for it any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about Riley\u2019s Socks, visit rileysocksapparel.com. Further information on the Enchanted Hope Foundation can be found at enchantedhopefoundation.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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September is always a busy month for Riley Allen. It\u2019s back-to-school season for the Aurora French-immersion teacher, which brings its own challenges, but this year she\u2019s underscored her very personal story to community members hitting the stage for this month\u2019s Lip Sync Battle, raising vital funds for Victim Services of York Region, rallying her school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-headline_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-a8s","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-01 15:38:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2026-09-24-01.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38966,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38964\/revisions\/38966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}