The Limestone Coast Prostate Cancer Support Group has received a generous $1000 donation from the South East Street Machines Club.
Limestone Coast Prostate Cancer Support Group chair Richard Harry said the group was in the planning stages of organising an information evening about prostate cancer in Mount Gambier and the donation would potentially go towards this.
“In 2014, we had a public meeting in Mount Gambier and we had 160 people attend, and that meeting was an information evening on prostate cancer,” he said.
“The Limestone Coast has a very high incidence of prostate cancer and I felt we needed another public meeting like that.
“It is not going to happen until September as I am trying to tie in specialists, but there will be a urologist, a radio oncologist, the prostate nurse and probably one other specialist.
“If it is not here, we are looking at doing another one, because our local prostate nurse said there is an area up in the Upper South East, Bordertown-Keith area which the specialists do not go to. They need help up there and there is quite a high incidence up there as well.
“I have put in an application that we can use the specialists here, but I have put through to Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) a proposal that we actually do one up in the Upper South East as well.”
Mr Harry said when the talks were being held around Australia in 2014, the Mount Gambier session received the largest attendance of all meetings in Australia.
South East Street Machines Club president Jim Coombe said the club runs a show ‘n shine each year and as they are a not-for-profit club, they donated to several local charities or groups with their excess funds after the event.
“Our club stipulation is trying to keep it local,” Mr Coombe said.
“Because we did not use our full budget last year because of COVID and everything else that was happening, we normally give around about $500 to five or six organisations, but this time we decided to give $1000 to six organisations.”
For Mr Coombe, the donation to the Limestone Coast Prostate Cancer Support hits close to home.
Three of his friends are living with prostate cancer, one being his brother-in-law, another who recently underwent a prostate cancer operation and also a South East Street Machines Club member.
Mr Harry said the donation showed the amount of support within the community.
“When we got the prostate biopsy machine into the South East, all of that money, nearly $200,000 worth, that came out of our community, and not one dollar of government money was involved with that machine,” he said.
“And it is groups like Jim’s that have come forward and supported us and through us supported our own community.”
Mr Harry and Mr Coombe urged all men over the age of 50, or men over 40 who have a family history of prostate cancer, to get tested for prostate cancer, which now involves just a simple blood test.
