I am 65 years old and ready for retirement this year. I’ve been working since age 15 so it’s time! My current employer is Bunnings, and the company team was great in supporting my fundraising efforts this year.
My motivation for raising money for cancer research is one that’s close to home. Two young members of my family have been diagnosed with cancer since 2015. When my sister’s daughter, Kylie, was discovered to have ovarian cancer, the cancer was already advanced and classified as terminal; her prognosis was 12 months, at best. Kylie went ahead with her 30th birthday celebrations in February 2016 just prior to having chemotherapy treatment and surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible and to improve her level of comfort. After several weeks of recovery in hospital, she returned home and then passed away two weeks later while sleeping next to her beloved husband. My niece had known about her cancer for less than six months.
The family is also supporting my brother’s daughter, Leanne, while she fights bowel cancer. Her outlook is encouraging, having reacted really well to chemotherapy treatment. There were shadows on her lungs and liver where the cancer spread, but surgery has successfully removed lung tumours destroyed by the chemotherapy. We are hopeful it will be the same outcome with her liver. Leanne is 35 years old with a wonderful husband and two young children.
When I decided to go ahead with fundraising, I was very overdue for a haircut so shaving my head seemed the best way to go. Bunnings let me use their public BBQ area for the event. Several of my co-workers gave up their rostered day off and along with my family cooked and served the BBQ, sold at the cake stall and mixed with the Bunnings customers who stopped to see what was going on. The amount of donated jams, pickles, relish, cakes and biscuits was astounding and well received by the customers, making over $600 in that area alone. The Bunnings Manager, Damian, cut my hair the same way he does his own – short and with clippers. The whole day was really great, a wonderful atmosphere, fantastic customer attendance and successful with approximately $2700 raised altogether.
Fundraising for cancer research is something we can all do – there is strength in numbers. Being able to do something that will assist in the discovery of a cancer cure is well worth while.
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