As Albury Council handed over a $100,000 donation to the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre, two young friends were doing their own bit a few streets over.
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Matilda Thompson, 9, and Amelie Cameron, 10, raised more than $250 for the centre, selling their baked goods at a stall in East Albury.
Amelie said she and her friend had baked all night.
“My friends the other weekend did a stall to raise money for charity, so I then thought maybe I could do a stall but raise it for cancer,” she said.
Her mother, Bec, said Amelie’s grandmother had died of brain cancer a year ago.
“She was in Mansfield and if the cancer centre had of been here, absolutely she would have spent time here as opposed to Melbourne,” she said.
“Cancer impacts everyone, it will make such a big difference.”
Michelle Hensel, whose son Braedon died in 2014, said the ability for patients to access treatment in their hometowns was of utmost importance.
“In 2011, my son was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma,” she said.
“As a 19-year-old, he was a university student and a sportsman, but what happens when you’re fighting cancer is that it becomes your whole life.
“What people will be able to do by staying here is keep their identity and keep all parts of their life together.
“If they can have their treatment here, maybe they can still go to work, maybe they can still be a part of their sporting group.”
Mrs Hensel said liveable spaces in the centre were another huge benefit.
“We spent the best part of three and a half years at Peter Mac … it’s a wonderful building now, but it was horrible,” she said.
“When I come into this building and I see all the beautiful light and trees … I get emotional every time.”
Mrs Hensel toured the wellness centre on Thursday, which features a kitchen, communal area and two consultancy rooms to host support groups.
Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre operations director Robyn Gillis said the facility was set to open in September but services to occupy the wellness centre could not yet be announced.
“The centre is at its base, we really need to kit it out and work out what services we can deliver,” she said.
“We’re close but we’ve got a period of time where tenants move in, and bring all the medical equipment.”