We just want to keep raising and fighting, so our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, so they don't have to fundraise
- Sharyn Waldron
A can-do attitude has seen an Albury couple raise nearly $50,000 for the Cancer Council over the past eight years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Collecting aluminium cans, glass and plastic bottles for charity is a year-round pursuit for Sharyn and John Waldron.
And they plan to boost their tally further at the 2018 Border Relay For Life, October 27-28, with the help of a giant daffodil.
RELATED:
The Waldrons’ team, Waldo’s Cans For Cancer, is known for gathering what its name indicates.
“We go up to Old Tallangatta, we go up to Eskdale, we go out near Lockhart, we’ve been down to Eldorado, Howlong,” Mrs Waldron said.
“Any money we get, 100 per cent goes to Cans For Cancer. We’ve got people that collect for us in the community, they get on to our Facebook page, need a pick-up done, we go around, do a pick-up and then recycle in the vending machines.
“About $6500 that we’ve raised this year has just gone through, that’s 65,000 cans.”
Last year Mrs Waldron saw the Big Heart Project in Canberra, an initiative of Love Your Sister that created a giant heart of coins.
“I thought, what a brilliant idea,” she said.
“Can’t do anything on that size, but can do a daffodil.”
A call to Wodonga business Blaze Displays introduced her to office manager Jen Mullavey “and she ran with it”.
Mrs Mullavey asked Ullrich Aluminium and Signarama to assist as the businesses donated materials and labour to create a big yellow flower to be covered in money.
“It was right up our alley, just getting it together I knew we needed some help,” the office manager said.
Mrs Waldron said a test run at last year’s relay showed the daffodil needed a proper cover, now available, to stop coins from falling.
“Last year I think it was a talking point to get it, ‘Hey look, these guys have done this’, and this year it’s going to be full on,” she said.
Another relay fixture is the family team’s Where’s Waldo? doll held through every lap.
“He’s like our baton,” Mrs Waldron said.
“Every time he does a lap he gets a bead put on his necklace.”
The Waldrons started a relay team to remember loved ones like Mr Waldron’s mother and sister, who both died of cancer.
“I think every year our energy levels go up,” Mrs Waldron said.
“We just want to keep raising and fighting, so our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, so they don’t have to fundraise.”
To register a team for Border Relay For Life or to donate, visit relayforlife.com.au/Border
- Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here