Daffodils spread hope of spring
The annual sea of yellow is spreading out around Palmerston North, Horowhenua and Tararua as 75,000 daffodils are distributed for the Cancer Society’s annual appeal.
Manawatu¯ volunteers Amanda and Lyall Schroder have been blanking out three weeks of their calendar each August for the past nine years to fill the orders from Addis House in Palmerston North.
Daffodil Day is today, when many schools and businesses will be running activities and selling the merchandise, but a great deal of the sorting and deliveries will have already happened by then.
Centre manager Kate Aplin watches as more than 100 volunteers team up, again, in preparation for the fundraiser that is second only to the Relay for Life. It yields between $170,000 and $200,000 of the $1.4 million needed each year to provide the local centre’s services. The 28-year-old fundraiser helps pay for support groups, psychological counselling, and massage and reflexology sessions for people going through cancer treatments.
‘‘We spend $5000 on petrol vouchers a month to transport people to treatments. We have even paid for someone’s dogs to be looked after for three days while she was in hospital,’’ Aplin said. ‘‘The money is used for whatever people need to help them relax and get the best from treatment without having to worry about other things.’’
Across the wider central districts region, more than 2000 volunteers support Daffodil Day, helping to pay for more than 900 home visits a year, and nearly 4000 trips driving people to and from cancer treatment.
Cancer Society central districts chief executive Debra Elgar said 23,000 New Zealanders were diagnosed with cancer during the past year, with the disease affecting one in three people, and causing 9500 deaths a year.
Proceeds from Daffodil Day were used to help people with cancer right now, and for research.
‘‘Without the generosity of New Zealanders . . . we would not be able to continue to meet the growth in demand for all our services,’’ Elgar said.