Susan Pullen holds a letter she and her friends were sent by the Cancer Society after they raised money for cancer research in 1974. Picture / Dean Purcell
When the neighbour she called "Gran" died of leukaemia, 13-year-old Susan Tapp and her sisters Wendy and Julie were so moved they organised a charity garage sale to raise funds for cancer research.
Together with Gran's granddaughters, Ann, Wendy, and Linda Kristensen, the Tapps raised $47.86 from the
fundraiser held in the driveway of their Kelston home in 1974.
They sent the money to the Auckland Cancer Society, and then-CEO Dick Stevenson wrote back with a thank-you note.
"Your donation is gratefully received and will help our research workers in their task of finding an answer to the cancer problem," he wrote.
Susan Tapp, now Susan Pullen, still has that letter. And last year she celebrated her 25th anniversary of employment at the Auckland Cancer Research Centre - her own personal contribution to the "cancer problem".
Indeed, the centre - which started 50 years ago buoyed by public support from a Herald appeal - has been an enormous success story. It has brought eight drugs from concept to clinical trials, while two more are in the late stages of development.
As the centre's tissue culture lab manager, Mrs Pullen oversees the cultivation of cancer cells and the testing of potential drugs on the cultures.
She started at the centre in 1980 after leaving school at the end of sixth form. Unsure of what she wanted to do, she chanced upon a job advertisement for a lab assistant at the Cancer Society.
"They say I got the job because I had neat handwriting - and I was quiet. But I was quiet only for the first six months."
There were just four lab staff and four researchers when she started. The centre now employs 80 people.
Drug development is a costly endeavour, and the centre's success would not have been possible without donations from the public.
For Susan Pullen, the garage sales have stopped, but her fundraising continues through her participation in the Cancer Society's annual Relay for Life charity event.
She has worked with most of the drugs developed at the centre, and is proud to be part of the team.
"Drugs that worked within the lab are now going through to the clinic. You think, well, hopefully it will make a difference in people's lives."
