MELBOURNE couple Ron and Helen Cuthbert received a Lifetime Achievement Award from CanTeen today in recognition of support spanning 18 years.
In that time, the pair has held dinners and auctions raising more than $800,000 for CanTeen while also donating weekends away at Eildon for young people living with cancer.
“We couldn’t be more grateful for the incredible support Ron and Helen have given CanTeen and our Members over the last 18 years,” said Debbie Anderson, CanTeen’s Victorian Division Manager who will also be presenting the Cuthberts with the award.
“Weekends away at Eildon have long been an annual highlight for our Victorian Members who get the chance to meet and support other young people affected by cancer while also having a lot of fun on the water,” she said.
The Cuthberts’ connection with CanTeen started in 1995 when Ron was the president of Warrandyte Lions Club. At their first CanTeen auction, the club raised enough money to buy a bus that could transport CanTeen Members to and from programs and activities.
Their fundraising evolved from there and with the support of the Eildon Lions Club and Eildon Boat Club, they began organising entire weekends away where CanTeen Members could stay on houseboats and take part in watersports on the lake. The last weekend was held in March this year.
CanTeen Members range in age from 12 to 24 and include not just young cancer patients, but also young people whose parent, brother or sister has cancer or has died of cancer.
“Every year, another 23,000 young people have to face the challenge of cancer and CanTeen aims to ensure they don’t have to go through it alone, Ms Anderson continued.
“In addition to peer support programs like the Eildon weekends, CanTeen provides funding for specialist hospital care, counselling services and youth-specific information.
“If you know a young person who might need support dealing with their cancer journey, please tell them about CanTeen or encourage them to visit www.canteen.org.au,” she said.
Ryan Fritz
Ryan Fritz started The Advocate in 2014 to provide not-for-profits and charities another media platform to tell their worthwhile hard news stories and opinion pieces effortlessly. In 2020, Ryan formed a team of volunteer journalists to help spread even more high-quality stories from the third sector. He also has over 10 years experience as a media and communications professional for not-for-profits and charities and currently works at Redkite, a childhood cancer charity.
