Ian and Jennifer Stuart are Cancer Society volunteers who will be collecting on Daffodil Day this week. Photo / Zizi Sparks
Ian and Jennifer Stuart are Cancer Society volunteers who will be collecting on Daffodil Day this week. Photo / Zizi Sparks
Cancer can hit anybody at any time but volunteers such as Ian and Jennifer Stuart are doing their bit to help patients.
Ian Stuart has been volunteering for the Cancer Society for seven years. He started when he was looking for something to do and a way to meet people after moving to Rotorua.
He and his wife will be street collectors on Daffodil Day but he has held many other volunteering roles in the society.
Ian initially volunteered driving cancer patients to their appointments but began volunteering in the hospital's chemotherapy ward when his wife had to stop due to the length of time she had to spend on her feet.
At the ward, he helps people with morning tea and lunch orders and provides company three times a fortnight.
"The main thing is really just being available to talk with people, providing a listening ear from someone outside the hospital system. It's quite a private thing and we try to be as unobtrusive as possible.
"We meet some really nice people. Some want to talk, some don't. Everyone is just so pleasant up there it's a gentle place to be there's no stress."
Ian himself had a short battle with prostate cancer.
Cancer Society nurses Leoni Lawry and Penny Parsons are grateful for Daffodil Day support. Photo / Supplied
"Cancer is something that can hit anybody at any time, young or old. You don't know if it may be in your family or strike you personally ... It can come to anybody and any help people offer will enable the Cancer Society to try to make life a bit easier for people."
Ian said he and his wife had been street collectors in previous years and enjoyed the opportunity to help the community.
"Cancer can be a traumatic thing. If I can ease it a little bit, even if it's something small, which it is, I will.
"Most people who give are appreciative of what the Cancer Society does and the services they offer."
Daffodil Day this Friday is the Cancer Society's largest fundraising event. The donations go to the local society and helps nurses support people affected by cancer in the community.
Cancer Society nurse Penny Parsons, who leads a team of eight nurses working across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, said Daffodil Day was "vitally important".
"A cancer diagnosis is life-changing for people and their families.
"There's a lot of uncertainty – and for some there is fear. Having a nurse who can demystify some of the process and talk with them about what to expect can help put them at ease."
The nurses also find out if people need help with transport, meals or counselling.
"These are the sorts of things that can relieve a lot of the stress and also the financial burden when someone in the family has cancer," she said.
"Sometimes people have great natural support from friends and extended family at the start, but as time goes on that support can drop away. Cancer Society nurses walk alongside our clients for as long as they need us, because no one should face cancer alone."
Donations can be made at any ANZ branch during August, online at daffodilday.org.nz, to businesses with counter collections, or to street collectors on Friday.
Where donations go $24 Provides safe transport to and from cancer treatment $58 Helps provide counselling for people affected by cancer and their whānau $107 Helps provide accommodation for people travelling for treatment $150 Contributes to research that improves prevention, diagnosis and treatment Donations also fund cancer research and help deliver health promotion programmes in schools and the community. Source: Cancer Society
Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society by the numbers 8183 - The number of times nurses provide advice, information, advocacy and support to someone with cancer or their whānau. 64,300 - Kilometres driven by volunteers transporting people to treatment 11,592 - Nights' accommodation provided by Cancer Society's Lions Lodge for cancer patients travelling long distances for treatment 34,290 - Meals served to guests at the Lodge $240,467 - contributed to local and national cancer research
