Shona Gawel signed up to do this year’s Cancer Council 28km 7 Bridges Challenge to help make a difference in the fight against cancer.
“When it comes to cancer everyone is impacted, so I thought I’d lend a hand,’’ says the Ingleburn resident.
The clincher though was that she had a friend who is a researcher for the Cancer Council and whose name was at the bottom of a social media post urging people to get involved.
“When I saw my friend’s name I thought, well, I have to do my bit,’’ says Ms Gawel.
As it turned out, thanks to the support of family and friends, Ms Gawel raised almost $6,000 – and is currently the sixth highest individual fundraiser in 2020 – donations are accepted until the end of November.
She says that because this year’s 7 Bridges Challenge went virtual, those involved could do the walk in their own area.
Ms Gawel, accompanied by a couple of besties, walked 28km by starting in Ingleburn, heading to Glenfield, then Macquarie Fields, Minto, Ruse and Kentlyn.
However Ms Gawel, who is general manager at GrainGrowers, decided to also adopt a “fun at my expense’’ approach in her fundraising.
“I made a bunch of “pledges” for family and friends in exchange for their generous donations,’’ she explains.
The pledges included doing her shopping at the Ingleburn Woolworths store dressed as Princess Leia, pictured.
Ms Gawel was such a trouper she even had a video of her as Princess Leia posted on social media.
But wait, there’s more: she also got dressed like a giant rabbit and plenty of other fun nonsense.
But of course everything was for a serious cause, so the born and bred Campbelltown mother of one has no regrets.
Well, there may be just one: she was fifth highest fundraiser for a while so a few more donations between now and November 30 may help her climb higher up the ladder.
- Visit the Cancer Council website here to find out how you can donate to Shona Gawel.
