[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ny non locals driving past Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Saturday and seeing the tents pitched around the athletics tracks by participants in the annual 24 Hour Fight Against Cancer walk would have had a hard time guessing what was going on.
That’s because while it’s still a fundraiser, the signature 24 Hour event in October has morphed into Campbelltown’s biggest jamboree.
Participants wearing orange shirts still walk and sell raffles from 10am on Saturday to 10am on Sunday.
But spend a few hours mingling around the athletics track and it’s easy to see that this is a gathering of true believers, soldiers in the crusade to push back hard against cancer.
I asked the mayor of Campbelltown, George Brticevic, what he thought of it all.
“A great community gathering,’’ he replied.
When the event starts with the formalities, the troops sit on the athletics track grandstand and cheer at every mention of success by the charity founded by the late Fred Borg.
This year the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to his memory is one of the highlights of the formal proceedings.
Mayor George Brticevic and 24 Hour chairman and fellow Campbelltown councillor Warren Morrison help cut the ceremonial ribbon in front of the plaque.
But before that a huge cheer greets the entry to the stadium by a group called Dawn Breakers, who every year walk the 22 kilometres from Camden Hospital to Campbelltown Stadium – that’s more than 50 laps of the 400m athletics track.
Naturally the Dawn Breakers fundraise as they walk along and this year they triumphantly present a giant cheque for $15,000 to Warren Morrison.
The 24 Hour charity started as just that: fundraising during a 24 hour walk around the athletics track.
But almost 15 years later there are several individual fundraisers linked to 24 Hour, from golf days to Paul Nunnari’s wheelchair push around local schools to vintage car show and a ladies luncheon at Tabcorp Menangle.
But as chairman Warren Morrison and others pointed out on Saturday, every cent raised still goes towards cancer services in our local hospitals.
“It always has and always will,’’ Mr Morrison says.
Professor Stephen Della-Fiorentina, the director of the Macarthur cancer therapy centre, said the money from 24 Hour – which has raised close to $4 million – had made a huge difference.
“It’s the reason local cancer patients have voted it the best cancer therapy centre three years in a row,’’ he said.
To the right of the stage, organisers had planted a banner listing some just some of the things 24 Hour money had paid for over the years – things like:
- a 12 seater wheelchair accessible patient transport bus
- Salary of a full time driver
- Staff training for specialised paediatric care nurses
- specialised mattresses, chairs, cushions for loan to terminally ill patients at home
- digital TV access to cancer patients at no cost to families
- iPads and iTunes vouchers for use by children receiving cancer treatment
- highly specialised laser machine to treat bladder stones and bladder tumours – previously one had to be borrowed when needed from Liverpool Hospital with subsequent delays to patient treatment
- Three wall mounted digital monitors in the radiotherapy and clinic waiting areas of the Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre to give patients up to date information about running times, facilities and services available and staff on duty
- Two gas commode chairs for use by patients in the new Oncology Ward and for the Palliative Care Unit at Camden Hospital
- production and dissemination of a DVD for families explaining the treatments at the Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre
- production and dissemination of a DVD for families explaining the services and supports available at the Camden Palliative care Unit
- Eight recliner chairs to accommodate relatives who need to sleep overnight at the Oncology Ward at Campbelltown Hospital to support relatives receiving treatment
- Garden maintenance services for the Palliative Care Tranquility Garden
- Eight Posy Fall Monitors for loan to home based and palliative care ward patients to help avoid injury from falls
- Therapy and counselling resources for use with children and young people who have family members receiving treatment.
This year’s guests included Uncle Ivan Wellington, the local Aboriginal elder, who provided the welcome to country speech on Saturday.
Mayor of Wollondilly Judy Hannan was there, as was Camden councillor Cindy Cagney, federal MP Dr Mike Freelander, State MP Greg Warren, Campbelltown deputy mayor Darcy Lound and Liberal councillor George Greiss.
