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$25,000 to Support Melanoma Patients
Melanoma Patients Australia is delighted to announce a $25,000 donation from the Smiling for Smiddy Challenge to help provide greater regional support and information for patients diagnosed with deadly melanoma.
The Smiling for Smiddy Challenge, a gruelling 8 day 1,600km cycle from Brisbane to Home Hill, raised over $540,000 for cancer research and support last year alone.
Challenge Director, Mark Smoothy says, “We have an amazing group of riders – about 50 – who ride in memory of our mate Adam Smiddy, who passed away from an aggressive form of melanoma when he was only 26. The work that Melanoma Patients Australia does to provide support and information to melanoma patients after they are diagnosed, and to their families, is amazing and we wanted to help.”
The $25,000 from the Smiling for Smiddy Challenge will go towards establishing melanoma support groups throughout regional Qld.
CEO of Melanoma Patients Australia, Lisa McFadyen says, “We are so grateful to the Smiling for Smiddy team and their fantastic supporters for this very generous donation. Having experienced the ‘Smiddy family’ on the ride to Home Hill last year, we feel quite honoured to have been chosen as a beneficiary of all their hard work.”
Unlike other organisations which raise funds for melanoma research, Melanoma Patients Australia focuses on supporting patients diagnosed with this deadly disease – melanoma.
Melanoma Patients Australia, or mpa, is the only organisation in Australia dedicated to providing support and information to patients diagnosed with melanoma, and to their families.
· Melanoma is the most common cancer in Australians aged 15-44.
· In Queensland 1 in 14 men and 1 in 17 women will be diagnosed with melanoma during their lives.
· Over 2,500 Queenslanders are diagnosed with melanoma each year and 10% will die.
mpa currently facilitates melanoma support groups in Brisbane, Sydney, Hunter region, Canberra, Melbourne & Geelong, as well as some regional areas of Queensland such as Townsville, Rockhampton, the Gold & Sunshine Coasts.
In 2010 the Smiling for Smiddy Challenge aims to raise $750,000 for cancer research through their Brisbane-to-Home-Hill ride, plus an inaugural ‘Midi Smiddy’ Challenge on May 28-30.
For more information about the Smiling for Smiddy Challenge please go to the website at www.smiddy.org.au
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