Going dry for Locky
A brave group of Finley residents are taking on the Dry July challenge to raise funds for the fight against leukaemia.
Spearheading the effort is yearly participant Angie Thomas.
She will be joined by her sister Josie and their friends Scott Williams, Millie-Jayne Harris, Miranda Maxwell, Madelin Brooks, Sarah Gray, Jemima Lewis, Marcus Jackson, Graeme Hendy and Tim Brown.
They are all participating to support their friend Lachlan Webster, who featured on the front page of the SOUTHERN RIVERINA NEWS last week.
The former Deniliquin resident was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia two weeks ago after lingering flu symptoms prompted him to attend the Gold Coast University Hospital.
He lives in Queensland with his fiance and former Finley resident Lowana Congram and their sons, and are expecting a third in October.
‘‘I came up with the idea to do this for Lowana and Locky,’’ said Angie, who is a long-time friend of Lowana.
‘‘I do Dry July every year but this year is close to our hearts. I reached out to Josie and our other friends to see if they thought it was a good idea to join in.
‘‘We’re hoping to make as much as we can. We originally set our target for $1000 but we’ve beaten that.
‘‘Lowana has been really strong for her two children, and she’s pregnant as well. She’s a really strong person and has a supportive network behind her.
‘‘No words or actions we can take would ever make things better, but we just want them to know they have all of us and the whole Southern Riverina behind them in support.’’
Angie and Josie said giving up alcohol for the month will be easy compared to what their friends are going through.
‘‘It shouldn’t be too hard to complete Dry July, we’re doing it as a group so it’s more motivating and we’re doing it for a cause that means a lot to us,’’ Josie said.
‘‘Every dollar we raise counts and we have it far easier than Locky and Lowana at the moment.
‘‘A lot of research over the last few months has shown that the consumption of alcohol has increased, so I encourage everyone to drink in moderation or try and go dry for a week or two.
‘‘The challenge has changed this year to allow people to do 14 or 21 days of the challenge if they’re not up to the whole month.’’
‘Team Locky’ surpassed $1800 in fundraising in their first week of the challenge.
To donate to the Finley team, visit http://www.dryjuly.com/teams/team-locky.