Cancer Society nurses Leoni Lawry and Penny Parsons delight in the return of the annual Daffodil Day street appeal. Photo / Supplied
Cancer Society nurses Leoni Lawry and Penny Parsons delight in the return of the annual Daffodil Day street appeal. Photo / Supplied
OPINION
When you pass a Daffodil Day collector today, please spare a thought for what it means for our charity to just be back on the streets.
For the past two years, the Cancer Society has been forced to cancel or severely curtail our biggest fundraising event of the year.Given we run on public donations and goodwill, that's the equivalent of all the wheels falling off our bus and grinding us to a terrible halt.
As a CEO, these Covid cancellations have led me to glumly consider what would need to be cut should fundraising drop to unsustainable levels. That's tough when each service we run - totally free for cancer patients - has a waiting list.
Some of you may be thinking that I need to harden up and put my big boss pants on. But I didn't accept this role to be a tough boss. Fair and firm yes, and hopefully always friendly, but I'm not a keen slasher of services when demand is clearly there. I came on board three years ago to do the opposite - expand our services to reach even more people in need.
So today, it means a lot for me, my staff and volunteers mobilising with collection buckets – along with digital QR codes and eftpos machines - to raise serious love and support. Please be kind and generous – or give online at www.daffodilday.org.nz - so we can ensure no one faces cancer alone.
The stats show that Cancer Society services will be needed more than ever, with cancer rates rising steadily. Currently, cancer affects one in three New Zealanders but that's forecast to hit one in two within 20 years. Look at the person next to you as that's statistically a 50:50 chance. You may be the lucky one, but maybe not your partner, your parents, your whanau, your neighbour.
Whoever it is, I want the Cancer Society to be there, as it was when my mother was diagnosed years ago. The street collection is our vital life support.
But Daffodil Day is much more than just raising funds.
For the 10,000 plus volunteers who offer each year to collect, many are cancer survivors. It's their way of giving back to the Cancer Society, which got them through perhaps their darkest hours, days, weeks or months.
To proudly stand on the streets, or in a local mall, with their bright yellow vests and buckets, is their symbol of success - they made it through and they're determined others are supported to get through too.
Andrew Young. Photo / Supplied
And for our cancer patients, we celebrate Daffodil Day within our accommodation lodges across New Zealand.
At Domain Lodge in Auckland, our patients watch the weeks of build-up, the hum of activities as thousands of paper daffodils, merchandise and huge energy pour in for our biggest day every August.
It's been heart-breaking for the past two years with our lodges having to ban visitors, street collections canned and no annual buzz. The fun in fundraising was ripped away and we've deeply felt the loss.
So when you see that flash of yellow daffodil, that symbol of hope, that sign that spring is here, please know how much your kindness means to that volunteer.
Please take a moment to remember those we've all loved and lost along the way - and celebrate the majority of patients who these days survive cancer. My team - through our nurses, psychologists, volunteer drivers, lodge staff, health promoters and cancer researchers - are here for all, through all seasons.
