Two decades of rallying support for flower power

Daffodil Day volunteer area co-ordinators Patricia Noonan (left) and Joan Swift. Photo / Sarah Ivey

It's Daffodil Day today, and this year marks 20 years of the fundraising scheme helping people suffering from cancer.

Patricia Noonan and Joan Swift have been involved in the annual street appeal since its beginning in August 1990.

Armed with donation buckets and bright yellow daffodils to hand out in return for cash, the pair have been out with hundreds of other volunteers come the last Friday of August each year to help raise money for cancer sufferers.

Statistics show around 20,000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with cancer, and more than 8000 people die from it, each year.

The National Bank has been a major sponsor of Daffodil Day since it began, offering daffodil pins at branches around the country, throughout August. All donations go to the Cancer Society for patient accommodation, cancer research and supportive care and health promotion.

TO FIND OUT MORE:

daffodilday.org.nz, cancersocietyauckland.org.nz.