Mount Gambier will once again host an Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser to brew funds for the Cancer Council of Australia on Friday.
The annual event will take place at the Blue Lake Bar and Bistro from 10am and will include a trading table in honour of Peter Bayre, raffles, silent auction items, a wine wall, delicious morning tea, lucky door prizes, a lucky dip and a guest speaker.
Tickets are all sold out and guests will receive a complimentary glass of wine on arrival from Di Giorgio Family Wines.
The guest speaker will be Cancer Council SA prevention team member Elysia Flavel who will speak about the facilities avaible for country patients including Greenhill Lodge, the cancer supports available and prevention.
Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea Mount Gambier host Karen Petersen said the new Cancer Council SA Greenhill Lodge facility is very important for regional patients battling cancer in the Limestone Coast.
“The facilities that we can utilise in the city help our country patients because it is an emotional journey but it is also a financial journey,” she said.
“They have that new facility they can stay at, they can have a meal there and they can be taken in bus to their treatment …. so I think all those things are important and helpful for a person going through cancer treatment.
“They feel safe and comfortable there and they can also get support by talking to other people going through treatment as well so I think it is a really important facility and to be upgraded to be state of the art is just amazing and I know people from the Limestone Coast are using it.
“Last year in the room we had a few ladies that had taken their husbands up for treatment and they stayed at the facility and they were amazed by it and I still hear of people in our community that have to travel up and stay there because a lot of country patients do not have family in the city.
“Eliysa will do a guest speaking talk on the day and then people can speak to her privately if they do not want to speak in front of the group.”
Ms Petersen said cancer was a cause that is close to heart for many of the women who attend the event.
“I think sadly most families have been effected by cancer and continue to be effected. The money that we raise obviously goes through to help prevention, support and research so it is pretty important,” she said.
“I think this year we just need to recognise all the people in our families that have been effected. I think sadly it is common and it is still common.
“I just wish and pray for a cure because some family members are taken too young.
“The businesses in Mount Gambier once again are amazing, they have got on board and donated again.
“This is my third year as host so I have a great committee that are still with me and help me along the way and I am just grateful we can keep raising money for cancer research.”
