Greg Brown (R) is president of the emerging non-profit group Seawolves Men's Cancer Pack (Submitted photo)

By Ian Holmes

Humble beginnings

Nanaimo-based men’s cancer support group makes its mark

Sep 26, 2025 | 4:58 PM

NANAIMO — Assisting dozens of men has swelled into helping hundreds of cancer sufferers thanks to non-profit organization Seawolves Men’s Cancer Pack.

The initiative, which launched in 2022, which provides cancer care backpacks for Vancouver Island men going through chemotherapy treatments, also stages supportive social outings for men afflicted by the disease.

Greg Brown, president of Seawolves Men’s Cancer Pack and prostate cancer survivor, said social gatherings of just a few men meeting for weekly coffee has swelled to upwards of 30 men currently.

“When we started out three years ago we had hopes of what we’d like to see, but to have the number of guys, outreach, connections and community support that we’ve had over the last three years, we could not even begin to imagine,” Brown told NanaimoNewsNOW.

He noted men from as far away as Port Alberni, Qualicum Beach and Ladysmith make weekly trips to Nanaimo for coffee meet-ups.

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Brown said men with cancer he’s connected with sometimes feel they’re burdening love-ones with their health challenges, or don’t have anybody to lean on for support.

“It is a journey, it is a battle,” Brown said. “As difficult as some of the treatments may physically be, the biggest challenge by far is what goes on up in our heads.”

Brown, 65, was diagnosed with prostate cancer at the age of 61.

Blood work provided critical early intervention for Brown, which he said is a tool that needs to be made more easily accessible

“A PSA test is a very simple blood test, it’s an early detector for potential prostate cancer, that’s what saved my life. There’s no family history…I had no symptoms.”

Stating roughly one in seven men and women are diagnosed with prostate and breast cancer respectively, Brown noted men require a doctors referral for a PSA test, while women don’t for mammograms.

“Women have been phenomenal at advocating for themselves, men have a lot more work to be done and we’re prepared to take that challenge on,” Brown contended.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer impacting men in Canada, with an estimated 28,000 diagnosed last year, according to Canadian Cancer Society.

According to Brown, Seawolves Men’s Cancer Pack handed out 40 backpacks filled with comfort items for men going through chemotherapy treatments in 2022, which expanded to over 100 last year.

Seawolves Men’s Cancer Pack hosts its fourth annual public fundraising event at Nanaimo’s Wolf Brewing Company at 940 Old Victoria Rd. on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The free event includes live music, a barbecue, prizes, face painting and an expert panel discussing men’s cancer issues.

Brown said the fundraiser has generated a combined $60,000 in the first three years.

Event poster for Seawolves Men’s Cancer Pack’s fourth annual community fundraiser taking place on Saturday, Sept. 27 at Wolf Brewing Company on Old Victoria Rd. (Seawolves Cancer Pack)

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