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Alycia’s birthday is helping Australian cancer researchers

Alycia supports Australian cancer research“For my 20th birthday, I just wanted an easy-going, simple celebration where I could spend time catching up with friends. I also wanted to use the occasion to help bring an end to cancer.

I think it’s important that we each take the time to think about how lucky we really are, and how we can each do our part to help others. I thought long and hard about how I could do something special and make a difference. I decided I would ask for donations to ACRF in lieu of gifts.

Once I chose to support cancer research as part of my birthday celebration, I spread the word weeks before the party about donations in lieu of gifts and reminded everyone quite often (which may have been annoying, but it was effective).

At my party, I had a donation station set up where people could look at ACRF pamphlets, grab a ribbon and put their contribution into a box. The support I received from everyone exceeded expectation. My friends all loved the idea and were keen to make a donation.

My family has experienced losing a loved one to cancer. My grandfather passed away from cancer when I was about 11 years old. At that age, everything seems like a blur and I didn’t fully understand what was happening when he was sick. Naively, I believed everything was going to be fine and things would soon go back to being normal. It was when he was admitted to the intensive care unit that the seriousness of his illness really hit me, and it was frightening.

I remember telling my mum that I didn’t want to see Granddad because I didn’t want to remember him like that. The hopelessness that I felt at the time was overwhelming.

Cancer is a devastating disease and until we end it together, we will continue to worry for our family, friends and ourselves. I want to help reduce this anxiety and fear by helping researchers find better methods of prevention, detection and treatment of all cancers.

I wanted to raise money for ACRF to help fund the equipment researchers to speed up discoveries. To all of those who support cancer research, you are doing a fantastic thing, together we’ll bring an to end cancer, and I think you will be so proud that you helped make it happen.” – ACRF supporter, Alycia