Lovely occasion for a cause

CARINYA Lodge held a memorable Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea on Wednesday, with apprentice chef Rhys Pether responsible for tasty delights that included Amaretti biscuits inspired by his favourite cocktail, an Amaretto Sour.

Pork and fennel sausage rolls, a couple of varieties of savoury tarts and coffee layer slices were among the other items enjoyed by community members, volunteers and residents.

As well as being a great social occasion, the event raised money for the Cancer Council, with the Biggest Morning Tea initiative reaching across the nation as the Cancer Council’s largest fundraiser.

“Cancer touches almost every family in some way,” Carinya Lodge’s leisure and wellbeing coordinator Vince Lethbridge said.

As well as the funds raised by those paying for morning tea, a raffle and a silent auction were held to boost the total, with local businesses donating items.

Those present at Carinya Lodge were honoured to hear guest speaker Ricky McNaughton publicly share his cancer journey for the first time.

He was working full-time at Leongatha RSL, coaching and umpiring netball and raising his beloved Border Collies, happy with life, when symptoms such as a strange taste in his mouth and feeling unwell led to his 2014 lung cancer diagnosis.

His treatment experience began in shaky fashion in Melbourne where he endured a lack of care and explanation, and an allergic reaction to his original chemotherapy drug.

A caring medical receptionist turned that around, referring him to an oncologist at Latrobe Regional Health who immediately filled him with hope and got him onto a pilot treatment course that eventually proved successful, and he has now been cancer free for 11 years.

Despite his difficult journey back to health, he said many others with cancer have it far worse.