The students and staff at Good Shepherd Lutheran College are continuing their quest to shave the world from blood cancer by raising valuable funds in this year’s World’s Greatest Shave campaign.
In its 11th year of supporting the campaign, 14 brave Good Shepherd students and two staff members pledged to cut or shave their hair.
Their small sacrifice will not only assist those fighting blood cancer right now, it will also contribute much needed funds to help research scientists continue their search for better ways to diagnose and treat blood cancer more effectively.
Good Shepherd Lutheran College principal Anthony Dyer said, “At Good Shepherd we place great emphasis on service for others and have noticed that students participating in the World’s Greatest Shave learn important values and lessons through the shared experience of shaving and fundraising, including empathy, empowerment, philanthropy, community values and social conscience. As a College we are passionate about this campaign and will continue to support the vital work it undertakes.”
When someone signs up to shave or cut their hair for World’s Greatest Shave, they send a powerful message of hope to the 110,000 Australians and their families facing blood cancer right now. Many people facing blood cancer lose their hair during treatment.
Unfortunately, Year 5 student Nina Hughes, is travelling the incredibly difficult journey many families have travelled, as her mother battles cancer.
Nina pledged to shave her head.
“It is hard that my mum has cancer and I really wanted to help her but there is nothing that I could do and then The World’s Greatest Shave came along, and I wanted to do it with all of my heart.”
Supported by her best friend Phoebe Sayer (Year 5) who also shaved her head, the girls mustered up the courage to get up on stage in front of their peers and put their support into action. Nina has raised over $10,000 alone.
Although the on-line fundraising efforts for the World’s Greatest Shave may have started weeks ago, Good Shepherd’s fundraising campaign certainly didn’t rely only on the online fundraising.
The entire College supported the campaign through a variety of fundraising activities including delicious bake sales, sausage sizzles, friendship bracelets, even the classic favourite spider drink assured the tally kept rolling over.
Musicians joined in with busking stations collecting donations throughout the campus while the ever-popular Crazy Hair Day, showcased amazing creative designs.
Damien Johns, pastoral care coordinator at Good Shepherd said, “This year’s team did an unbelievable job fundraising and spreading awareness.“
“There were tons of great fundraising activities happening throughout the month of March. The students organised a staff carwash with 30 cars washed in just a couple of hours and they managed to raise over $700.”
Students also happily purchased raffle tickets to shave the heads of both the deputy principal Michael Stock and science teacher Mark Wood and encouraged them to Brave the Shave.
Mr Johns said, “It was amazing to see the community come together and go well past our initial target of $25K. This year’s result of close to $35K is a record for the College and as we love to break records, I’m sure we will aim even higher next year.
“Blood cancer can’t be screened for, and it can’t be prevented. It doesn’t discriminate and can strike anyone at any time so we at Good Shepherd are keen to do our part in battling this terrible condition.”
Mr Dyer said, “Good Shepherd has raised well over $200,000 in its 11-year history of raising money for Blood Cancer Research. While the fundraising was entertaining for all involved, the main purpose remains very much in the spotlight for the students at Good Shepherd. We thank every person who participated, encouraged, donated, supported, and rallied to achieve such a phenomenal result for the Leukaemia Foundation.”
