The 12th Annual Dempsey Challenge Is This Weekend

This weekend, you can help people here in Maine who are battling cancer!

The 12th Annual Dempsey Challenge is this weekend! On September 25 & 26, people from all over the world will come together and participate in this event to make life better for people who are living with cancer.

Patrick Dempsey sat down with News Center Maine to talk pandemic challenges and being back here in the 207, and how he is preparing for this year's Dempsey Challenge

After holding a virtual challenge in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, this year offers both in-person and virtual options. People will run, walk and ride on Dempsey Challenge weekend in Lewiston/Auburn, or do it from anywhere in the world. This event has become so big, that it has transcended the state of Maine to become a global fundraiser.

As of today, fundraising is over $1.2 million, with a goal of $1.5 million. Every dollar raised by the challengers this year goes directly to programs at the Dempsey Center. These efforts are making life better for people impacted by cancer.

You can help the cause with a donation at https://support.dempseycenter.org/

In 1997, Patrick Dempsey's mother, Amanda, was diagnosed with cancer, and when she passed in 2014, he helped start the Patrick Dempsey Center at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. In 2009, when Dempsey introduced the first Dempsey Challenge, which features cyclists, runners, and walkers. It has become an annual event in the Lewiston area, raising millions of dollars over the years.

Dempsey was born in Lewiston and grew up in the nearby towns of Turner and Buckfield. He, of course, is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in Grey's Anatomy, and has been in quite a few hit movies over the years, including "Outbreak", "Scream 3", "Sweet Home Alabama", "Made of Honor", "Valentine's Day", "Transformers: Dark of the Moon", and "Bridget Jones's Baby", and my personal favorite, "Can't Buy Me Love."