Pink bales boost cancer fund

Sweet Louise CEO Fiona Hatton with Agpac general manager Chris Dawson to receive a cheque for $20,000 for the charity.

Sweet Louise is New Zealand's only charity solely dedicated to supporting women (and some men), living with incurable breast cancer.

The charity was delighted last week to receive a cheque for $20,000 from New Zealand agricultural crop packaging company Agpac as part of their Pink Bales initiative.

The concept of the pink bales was designed by Agpac to support Sweet Louise and is made up of a contribution from Agpac and the premium that farmers choose to pay to purchase the pink rather than traditional green or white bale wrap.

Many Kiwis see these pink bales from the roadside on farms from Cape Reinga in the Far North through to Bluff in Southland.

The Pink Bales campaign is in its third year and with the addition of the $20,000, has raised more than $68,000 for the Sweet Louise charity.

Sweet Louise CEO Fiona Hatton is delighted with the support from the rural sector.

"Our charity relies totally on donations and another $20,000 makes the world of difference to our members and their families who are living with incurable breast cancer.

"We know that many farmers have had tough times themselves recently and we are keen for them to know how grateful we are for their support of this campaign.

"The money raised by Agpac and their farming clients goes a long way to funding the expenses of an additional qualified Support Co-ordinator.

"Part of the Support Co-ordinator's role is to liaise with our 550 members nationwide, getting to know them and their families so that we can offer bespoke services based on our members' individual needs. Examples of support offered to members includes assistance with childcare, house-cleaning, gardening, massages, mastectomy underwear, wigs and much more."

Agpac general manager Chris Dawson said: "Asking farmers to pay more for something like silage bales when they are constantly under pressure to control costs was quite an ask in a tough economic environment.

"The generosity of our farming community has been amazing and enables Sweet Louise to continue their incredible work supporting members and their families, and we are thrilled to be part of that."

The coloured bales concept has since been adopted internationally with colourful, charity silage bales dotted across fields in Europe.

Keep safe

Each year 3000 New Zealanders are given the news that they have breast cancer. Of these, 15 to 20 per cent will go on to develop incurable cancer. Six hundred people die from it every year.

Sweet Louise touches the lives of more than 90 per cent of these people and relies solely on donations. There are more than 570 Sweet Louise members.

Sweet Louise helps members with everything from facilitation of local networking groups through to vouchers for mastectomy underwear, wigs, house-cleaning, babysitting, gardening, groceries or whatever is needed by that family.

For more information visit the websites www.sweetlouise.co.nz and www.agpac.co.nz