Former MLA Prasad Panda puts his best foot — and facial hair — forward to raise money for people facing cancer
By Fabian Mayer
Photographs courtesy of Prasad Panda
It all started with a moustache. During the COVID-19 lockdown, former Alberta Member of the Legislative Assembly Prasad Panda was trying to think of a way he could do some good from his Calgary home.
He landed on the idea of growing a self- proclaimed ugly moustache to raise funds and eventually shave it off. Over the next few months, Panda raised $83,000 for Albertans facing cancer.
Witnessing his own mother and older sister’s battles with cancer is what motivated Panda to give back. Both were diagnosed with cancer in the late 1980s in India and passed away before Panda immigrated to Canada in 2004.
“I thought maybe I should help other cancer patients because of my own personal story,” says Panda. “Albertans are generous; at the same time, it’s not easy to raise money. You have to use your persuasion skills, and you have to leverage your contacts.”
And leverage he did. Panda turned to his contacts to amplify his impact. He challenged his friend Tim Beach, general manager at Charlesglen Toyota, to do something big. The eventual result was a $1-million donation from the Mid-Southern Alberta Toyota Dealers to the Alberta Cancer Foundation in support of CAR T-cell therapy research.
The donors gathered at the Alberta Cancer Foundation office to present the cheque. “It was quite satisfying,” affirms Panda. “I felt we were able to make some difference in supporting cancer patients and their families.”
Additionally, in 2023, Panda helped raise more than $60,000 for the Foothills Medical Centre’s neonatal unit, and, in 2019, he sponsored cancer screening in his native village in rural southern India, supporting 450 people.
An engineer by training, Panda was a member of the provincial legislature from 2015 to 2023. His time as an MLA also included a stint as Minister of Infrastructure. At the time, the largest project in his portfolio was the construction of the new Calgary Cancer Centre, since named the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Even though his involvement with cancer initiatives is a little less hands-on these days, Panda hopes to keep fundraising and doing more charity work going forward. “Sometimes we are successful in raising big amounts, sometimes smaller amounts, but every penny is worth putting up for a good cause.”
