This is a fundraiser that has been planned and co-ordinated by Dave Star and Lorna Gow. They have been working on it tirelessly for months, and their story is one that I would like to share.
Dave and Lorna own an art gallery and design business (Hand Of Law), and Dave stumbled across Love Your Sister last year and got involved, organising an art fundraiser at his gallery that raised over $10 000. Dave’s enthusiasm and drive is amazing.
So when Love Your Sister came to Sydney, we caught up with Dave and Lorna for dinner, to say thank you for all the work they have done, and to talk about the next fundraiser they are planning. We sat down to dinner, and Dave says “Well, should we talk about the elephant in the room?” and I wonder what on earth is going on, what is he talking about, then Lorna gives him a nod, and Dave proceeds to tell us that Lorna had found a lump in her breast and had just that week been diagnosed with breast cancer.
How is that possible? That someone who has done so much to raise money and awareness for breast cancer can then be diagnosed herself. I was shocked and saddened by this news. My heart sank into my stomach and I wept inside for Lorna and what she was about to go through. She quickly cheered me up with her positive attitude, and the good news that because the tumour had been found early, it looked like it would only need surgery and radiation. The news that she would not have to have chemotherapy, and would not need a mastectomy, that a lumpectomy would suffice lightened my heart and I thought “This is why we did it, this is why we started Love Your Sister. When I was first diagnosed as terminal, Sam asked what I wanted my legacy to be. I said I would like to prevent just one other women from dying, prevent one other family from going through what my family is going through. I thought quietly to myself, ‘Sam, we did it. We actually did it.
This reminder, of the true meaning of Love Your Sister, and the importance of early detection brought home to me the magnitude of what Sam is doing. Telling people, one by one, to be breast aware, not to fall into the booby trap. Visiting town after town and community after community on that silly old unicycle has been worth it. He really has made a difference.
So in the face of a new diagnosis of breast cancer, Lorna and Dave would not be deterred, the work would go on, and this would not stop them from organising another great fundraiser, even bigger and better than the Hand Of Law Gallery fundraiser they did last year.
While undergoing surgery and radiation, Lorna, with the help of Dave and the organising committee, organised the Boobathon. It was a family fun day, followed by a raffle and auction, going from morning to night at the Erskinville Hotel in Sydney. Thanks to ‘The Erko’ for providing your venue, and for supporting and hosting the Boobathon.
Today Show Cross
The day started with a live cross to the Weekend Today show link to segment I couldn’t find it online, don’t know if there is one. It was so cute, Leila McKinnon, the host just kept saying “Boobathon” she loved the word, and kept repeating it, she must have said it 27 times. It was a great plug for the event, and again, we are very grateful to The Today Show for their support.
Family Fun
There was face painting, a jumping castle, wrestler entertainers and a petting zoo, heaps to keep the kids entertained.
The wrestlers smashed Sam in the face with a cream pie, which the kids thought was hilarious (and yes, it’s true, I may have had a giggle too!) There is just something about Sam that makes him a perfect target for a cream pie!
Street Art
For the parents and other grown-ups there was a street art exhibit where several street artists painted huge paintings for the auction, live, in front of the crowd. The artists spent the whole day painting and creating, and watching the works evolve was really interesting.
The Artists, Ben Brown, Glenno Smith, Mike Watt, Sindy Sinn and Joel Moore worked away all day on 7 foot high paintings that were auctioned that night. The works fetched between $700 and $1600 at the auction, so that was a massive success, and some lucky bidders scored themselves some really interesting work.
I would like to thank all of the artists for donating your time and your work, between you you raised thousands of dollars for breast cancer research. Thanks.
Stalls, stalls and more stalls
There were a stack of stalls, showcasing all sorts of interesting bits and pieces, a highlight of this for me was the Breast Screen NSW stall.
Sarah worked all day informing women of how to do self-checks and booking women in for their breast screens. This is the frontline of the war against breast cancer. Checking for lumps and bumps and being proactive if you find anything is the key to surviving this disease. Around 15 000 women will get breast cancer each year in Australia, and 7 women die of it every day! Fewer women will die if we are as vigilant about early detection for breast cancer as we are with our pap tests. So if you haven’t had a mammogram and you are over 40, you are eligible for a free screen through Breast Screen in your State or Territory. For younger women, please do self-checks once a month, and ask your GP to do a breast check for you every time you have a pap test. Breastcancer.org has step by step instructions on how to check your breasts yourself - it’s easy and doesn’t take much time. Mammograms aren’t effective in younger women, so self-checking is essential.
There is something I love about family fun days, fetes and festivals, and that is that you can buy cupcakes and other such goodies there. Diane and Katie donated their time, the ingredients and their baking prowess to raising money for Love Your Sister today, and in the weeks leading up to the Boobathon, and they make the BEST Honey Joys I have ever eaten. Thanks guys, you raised over $1000 today, awesome effort.
Other stalls included Dog Pack, Diane Tipping & Katies cakes, Elouera SLSC, Uno Amore Coffee, Ben Coles & the Super Wrestling Heroes, The Erko Hotel Sausage Sizzle and Shadow Lust Designs, Paddy the Baker and more. Thanks so much to all the stall holders for coming along and helping out. You all made a big contribution to the day, both by being there and donating to breast cancer research, so thanks heaps.
Bunnies Bunnies everywhere…..
A long-time friend and supporter of Love Your Sister is Louise Munnoch. Lu is living with breast cancer and she somehow finds some time and energy in her busy treatment, work and family schedule to help us out. She came along with her beautiful daughters and friends today to help out. Lu bought these piggy and bunny onesies (kindly donated by KIGU ) and the girls donned them and became our cutest supporters of the day.
Body Painting, slick, very slick indeed
There was an amazing artist doing body painting at the Boobathon. Her name is Anna and she runs a business called Brown Sugar Air Lab. Today she donated her time and artistic excellence to raising awareness and money for Breast Cancer. Check out her work! Isn’t it amazing? To see more about what she does, and heaps of pics of her Love Your Sister work, please click on the link and check out her facebook page, it is worth it.
Entertainment, tunes floating through the air
There were several entertainers who donated their time to creating a great ambience for the Boobathon. A huge thanks to Dave Favours, Sharon Gambill and Deny Kirkwood for coming along and contributing.
Thanks also to radio station KIIS 1065 who promoted and attended the Boobathon.
Going once, Going twice……………………..And Sold
If all of this wasn’t enough, and believe me, by now I was exhausted, but there was so much going on, I stuck around for more boobarific fun and fundraising.
The committee organised a huge array of raffle prizes and auction items, there were hundreds of them, too many to mention here, but a special thanks goes out to Rocks Brewing Co the main sponsor and Hungerford Hill Wines.
The auction was so much fun, people were bidding like crazy on art, dining experiences, sporting and music memorabilia and all sorts of things. Then, in walks Ray Meagher (also known as ‘Alf Stewart’ from Home and Away), shouting ‘Strewth’ and ‘Stone the Crows’. He came along to auction the Home and Away on set experience, and if he hadn’t become an actor, he certainly could have been an auctioneer. He spoke really nicely of Sam, in his younger days, when he appeared on the show as Sally’s first boyfriend, and auctioned the Home and Away experience for big bucks.
Then came a very emotional auction item. Sam’s Unicycle. I couldn’t believe that he was willing to auction it off. Something that held so much meaning and so many memories, he was willing to part with his unicycle that took him up Mount Kosciusko, the hardest and most gruelling section of his unicycle ride. And here he was, putting it under the hammer. I couldn’t believe it, my heart was in my throat and I felt sick, I wanted to cry. Instead I got up and asked for the microphone, then I pleaded to the bidders to make this worthwhile, for such a special item, something so close to my heart, I wanted to at least see it sell for a good amount, even though I didn’t want it sold at all.
Then the most heart-warming thing happened. Allan Sparkes bought the unicycle for well over $1000 and then came over to me, and told me that he had bought it for me, because the unicycle should stay in the family. I was so touched, I couldn’t believe that someone could be so kind. I talked to Allan and his lovely wife for a while afterwards and it turns out that he has written a book himself, he was a police officer who saved an 11 year old boy from a flooded storm water drain and then spiralled down into PTSD. To see more about his book, please click on the link. It’s an inspirational story about a wonderfully kind man.
Thanks Allan, due to your generosity, Sam’s unicycle, will stay in our family for ever now.
Drum Roll Please……………………And the Grand Total is…………………….???
After an amazing fun filled day and night, that was worked on, and contributed to, by hundreds of people, the Boobathon raised a massive……………….drum roll please…………..
$35 800. This is the single biggest fundraiser ever held for Love Your Sister, and I would like to acknowledge the organising committee for their amazing work, Dave Starr, Lorna Gow, Sean Dugan, Sharon Ayres, Simone Reid, Fern Anderson, Hannah Jeffers, Monique Galloway, Michelle Day and Marni Jenkin. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Photo Credits
Thanks to Daniel Gibbs and Amanda Nelson for your photos of the Boobathon.
For a full list of supportors and contributors for the Boobathon please see below:
The Venues & Co
Hannah Jeffers
The Erskineville Hotel
Natalia James
Solotel
Jake Toivonen
The Bank Hotel
The Courthouse Hotel
The Organising Commitee
Sean Dugan
Sharon Ayres
Simone Reid
Fern Anderson
Hannah Jeffers
Monique Galloway
Michelle Day
Marni Jenkin
The Event Sponsors
Rocks Brewing Co – Main Sponsor
Especially Mark Feathers & Tim Fishwick
PM Electric
Hungerford Hill Wines
Electrical Project Solutions
Drawable
Lighthouse Tattoo
Stone & Wood Brewery
Megadeck Staging Systems
The Video Makers
Deny Kirkwood
Ash Brennan
Hired Gun Productions
Carlton United Breweries
In The Wings
Brendon Pavey
Tracey Cook
Darren Bottom
Luella Moore
Richard J Watkins
Katherine Moore
Rob (Paw Paw) Moore
Brittany Sheahan
Sammy McPherson
Karen Nettelfield
Omar Chicho
Chel Cherie
Christophe Domergue
Glen Steveson
Damien Flegg
Matt Mannix
Steve Lambrinos
Cameron & Liz Francis
Josh Roelink
Rick Scarfone
The Stall Holders
Lena Seeto & Dog Pack
Diane Tipping & Katies cakes
Glenn Cairncross & Elouera SLSC
Sharon Chapple & Uno Amore Coffee
Ben Coles & the Super Wrestling Heroes
Sarah Little & Breastscreen NSW
The Erko Hotel Sausage Sizzle
Bec Willis & Shadow Lust Designs
The Auctioneers
Rick Nicholson
Braden Walters
McGrath Real Estate Agents
Auction Donators
Kristina Echols & Channel 7
Ken Healy
Ray Ahn, John Needham & The Hard Ons
Deniz Tek
Ian Roberts
Graham Thompson
Kerry Ratcliffe & The Koru Studio
Glenn Koek
Ash Brennan
Hand Of Law
Samuel Johnson
Fern Anderson & the Sydney Swans
JCB Carpentry
Craft Design Realisation
Ithaca Cottage – Mudgee
Rick Grossman & the Hoodoo Gurus
Rob Hurst from Midnight Oil
Raffle Donators
Bondi Beach Cruisers
Lion Nathan
Tender Touch Landscaping
Sydney Pub Tours
David Jones
Pacific Brands
Joico Hair Products
Hungerford Hill Wines
Sharon Gambrill Laughter Yoga
Sydney Harbour Tall Ships
Frances Watts
Billiard Blitz
BridgeClimb
Ben Brown
Ash & Natasha Brennan
Dendy Cinema Newtown
Bohemian Diva
Sydney Swans
Macleay Hotel Potts Point
Corona Beer
FDC Group
Better Read Than Dead
Sydney Buddhist Centre
Suncorp Stadium
Della Mano
Bar Nosh
Queensland Bulls Masters
“Mansfield” Cottage Barrington
The Bank Hotel (Newtown)
Masterchef
Flying Penguin Toy Store
Arbonne
Itsy Bitsy Baskets
Hand Of Law
Beyond The Sea
Marked Hair
LoveLight Kingdom
Katiescakes
Erskineville Deli
Bunnings Alexandria
Tooheys New
Frances Watts
Hands Of Imagination
Corona
Ken Healy
Tracey Cook
Anada Jones
Dr Garden
Bank Hotel (Newtown)
Allphone Arena
Our Suppliers
Adam Ziino & Shout Media
Andrew Meats
LUX Bread
The Street Artists
Ben Brown
Glenno Smith
Mike Watt
Sindy Sinn
Joel Moore
Dog Show Prizes
Dog Pack
Wolf Ink Dog Grooming
Entertainers
Dave Favours
Sharon Gambill
Deny Kirkwood
One man's ride around Australia on a unicycle to save his dying sister. Samuel Johnson raised over a million dollars to fund breast cancer research and he's still not finished. Keep up with his adventures and donate to breast cancer research. Don't fall into the booby trap - be breast aware!
Friday, 16 May 2014
Boobathon, Sydney, 12th April 2014
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