A heartfelt medical gift

WE are a generous mob in the Far North.

Daily we are asked to help various charities, from animal shelters through to organisations raising money to improve the health and wellbeing of our fellow human beings.

Whenever we are asked to dig deep to help one cause or another we respond accordingly.

Tens of millions of dollars are raised each year and most, if not all, is retained in the community to help those in need who live here.

Imagine the shock and surprise when a local benefactor, clutching a copy of a free Cairns Post advertisement promoting the Far North Queenland Hospital Foundation, walked into the foundation’s office and handed over a cheque for $300,000.

It is the largest gift ever received by the charity and to say the staff and volunteers were overwhelmed is an understatement.

The donor wishes to remain anonymous, however, the selfless act means that the foundation is $150,000 closer to its goal of $1.4 million towards the cost of a $2.8 million second cardiac catheter laboratory at Cairns Hospital. The other $150,000 goes towards the Liz Plummer Cancer Centre.

Yesterday the foundation received another massive boost to its coffers when the Cairns Game Fishing Commemorative Association handed over $123,000, which will also be added to the catheter lab fund.

The foundation raises more than $4 million a year to provide a host of goods and services for hospital services across the region.

It is just one of dozens of charities throughout the region raising money to make our lives better. Nick Dalton Deputy editor