Wodonga’s first Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch won’t be its last after 170 guests raised $23,000 for prostate cancer research on Friday.
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Organised by Wodonga Apex Club at Clubhouse Bar & Bistro, the function included laughs but also tried to increase awareness of men’s health issues.
Lunch committee member Wayne McCloskey said the day exceeded expectations, with $20,000 collected through ticket sales, raffles and an auction and Wodonga Apex Club donating $3000.
But, as he pointed out, this wasn’t all.
“There was 170 blokes that got the message to go and have their prostate checked,” he said.
“The money was quite a good thing but the overall issue is, everybody that was here now knows that if they haven’t already had it checked, they should go and have it checked.”
Mr McCloskey thanked all the sponsors and looked ahead to another lunch next year.
As well as celebrity guest Billy Brownless, Albury’s Mark Hore spoke to the crowd about his prostate cancer diagnosis six years ago, then aged 46.
“I had no symptoms, no family history, everything was working fine,” Mr Hore said.
Recovery from his surgery took about 18 months.
“That’s when I picked up running, yeah, just trying to find the old Mark back and get fit again and live a good life,” he said.
Now Mr Hore’s about to run his seventh marathon and has also completed three ultra marathons, combining his sport with fundraising to fight prostate cancer.
“It’s been a journey and it’s a journey that I’ll keep going on,” he said.
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