The Financial Insight Breast Cancer Initiative.
On the 12th October the annual Breast Cancer fundraiser, hosted by Jenny Hall, took place at the beautiful garden hotel, the Mount Nelson. The upstairs Ballroom was transformed into a lovely feminine venue with beautiful flowers and handy hessian goody bags, sponsored by Altrisk, waited on each chair.
This, being the 11th event hosted by Jenny was chaired by veteran Yvonne Finch. Yvonne has acted as master of ceremonies at this event for years and is a valuable resource to Jenny and her team.
The beneficiary of the function is the Grootte Schuur Breast Cancer unit, and they have received hundreds of thousands of Rands over the last 6 years from this event.
The first speaker, Doctor Julie Wetter, one of the attendees at the clinic spent some time detailing where the funds are spent and who benefits there from. It is important to Jenny and her team that the funds not get “dumped in a black hole” . they want to know where the money is spent. This helps them to track the use thereof and, to be fair, it keeps one motivated when you know what is happening to the funds you raise. Consequently payments are made to separate accounts ensuring the funds are applied appropriately.
Julie explained that the money is divided and spent as follows:
- A large portion of the money goes to the salary of the major caregiver at the clinic. This sister not only fulfils a pivotal duty taking care of the patients, she co ordinates and plans the treatments of the patients;
- Paying for transport to the hospital makes sure that the indigent patients’ life is easier and avoids having to use AND the cost of multiple modes of transport to attend to one treatment.
- Once the patient has reached the clinic, food parcels are provided. Patients generally cope better with the treatment if they have eaten before.
- Ladies suffering from breast cancer need encouragement to pay attention to their femininity and for this purpose nail varnish is supplied and often applied at the clinic by the staff whilst the patient undergoes the treatment.
The keynote speaker was Marlene le Roux. A sassy recovered polio sufferer, handles her disability with humour and pizzazz. She regaled the audience with the challenges she experienced in the previous political climate and the achievements and successes she has achieved. Through the humour and insightful narration this remarkable lady’s determination and attitude was clearly evident. The laughter and enjoyment from the audience did not by any means disguise the admiration and learning that came from Marlene.
The fun auction, executed by Yvonne caused much excitement and added to the fundraising coffers. Prizes and auction items are offered by businesses from the tourism industry, restaurants and many more. All these activities were punctuated by a splendid 3 course meal presented by the chef of Mount Nelson and delicious suitable “Pink” wine sponsored by Marianne Wine Estate.
A fun event, enjoyed by all, boosting the coffers of the clinic with R63000!!!
