The Holbrook Football-Netball club is aiming to raise more than $20,000 for the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre this weekend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Senior and reserves players will wear specially designed jumpers that will be ultimately auctioned off after the match against Henty as a major part of the fundraiser for the trust.
The jumpers were donated by Emerald Landscapes & Maintenance which is owned and run by Brookers co-coach Andrew Mackinlay.
Mackinlay is one of the main driving forces behind the fundraiser and said cancer was a disease that affected most families which was the motivation behind the fundraiser.
The Mackinlay family lost George Mackinlay to cancer in 2019.
He was only 58.
George was the father of four children, Hamish, Greta, Freya and Ewan.
Both Hamish and Ewan were part of the Brookers' most recent flag in 2022.
"Cancer is something that affects a lot of families including mine after we lost my uncle George (Mackinlay) back in 2019," Mackinlay said.
"So my uncle and grandparents have all had treatment at the Albury-Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre which is an amazing facility that we are lucky to have in our area.
"There are a few other players at the club like Bailey Churchill and Matthew and AJ Bender whose mothers Melissa Churchill and Carla Bender were treated for breast cancer.
"So I just thought it would be a worthy charity to try and give something back to through my sponsorship with the football club.
"I have previously been part of the Sunshine Ride which is another fundraising event for the cancer centre through Adrenaline Boxing & Conditioning.
"I think anybody that has had treatment at the cancer centre or knows somebody that has, would agree that it is a great organisation that hopefully we as a club can benefit in a small way on the weekend."
The club will also donate the gate takings from the weekend as part of the fundraiser.
The jumper auction started online earlier this week, which Mackinlay said had been well-supported.
"Originally we were aiming to raise $10,000 but have raised expectations to $20,000 now," he said.
"Since the jumpers went up for auction earlier this week, you can bid on them beforehand.
"We were up to $9500 in bids on Thursday morning which has really exceeded expectations.
"Whatever the online bid is for the senior jumpers on Saturday night will be the starting price at the auction.
"The reserves jumpers and the other numbers not being used will be sold for whatever the online bid has reached at 6pm on Saturday night."
For more information and a QR code where people can make donations, head to the Holbrook Football and Netball Club Facebook page.
