The Old Laravale School came alive with all shades of pink for Cancer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea fundraising event on Wednesday 24 May.
Locals and visitors enjoyed a delicious morning tea prepared by Wendy Lohmann along with games and raffles.
Guest speaker Taylor Kirkwood, who in 2019 was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer, had everyone in the room engaged with her story.
Taylor, who’s story was told in the Beaudesert Bulletin last year, underwent emergency surgery and chemotherapy which failed to slow the rapidly spreading cancer.
She rejected the offer of palliative care but instead undertook a clinical immunotherapy trial at the PA Hospital during COVID.
Grateful for the life-saving cancer treatment she received, Taylor encouraged everyone present to donate to cancer research, saying she has been lobbying the Federal government to continue funding clinical trials of immunotherapy.
“The drug I was put on costs $22,000 a month but because it was a clinical trial it was free,” she said.
“If not for the clinical trial that would have been it for me.”
Guests included Coral Hoffman (nee Willman), whose family had owned Willman house on the Old Laravale School site.
Wendy Lohmann said it was the sixth Biggest Morning Tea event she has organised and she was delighted with the result, having aimed to raise $1,500 on the day.
A total of $2,500 was raised through the 45 participants from donations, entry fees, a multidraw raffle and two quilt raffles as well as games run on the day.
Prior to this year, Wendy’s Biggest Morning Teas raised a total of $5,903 from the six events.
All funds raised are donated to the Cancer Council to help fund cancer research.
At the time of print, $5,377,944 had been raised across Australia from 21,757 morning tea hosts registered by Cancer Council.
