Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday evening, I was pleased to take part in one of the many relays for life that occur all around Australia. The relay is a fundraising, community-building initiative of the Cancer Council, and the funds raised go directly to patient support programs and further research. A local event, the Casey Cardinia Relay for Life is the largest in Victoria and more than 100 teams have been taking part in recent years. The relay is staged over 24 hours and each team undertakes to have somebody on the track with their baton at all times. There is entertainment throughout the night and it is a fantastic community event for the family.

The donations to the Casey Cardinia Relay for Life are still being counted, but at this stage it is expected that the 2014 amount will surpass the 2013 amount, which was an incredible half a million dollars. I walked with a team of over 40 people, known as Paula's Pals, which was organised and led by one of my constituents, Suzie Lowater. This team, like so many others, has come together to remember and honour a special local person, Paula Teuwsen, who died very unexpectedly of cancer in October last year. Paula had been taking part in the Casey Cardinia Relay for Life for a number of years, doing her bit to raise money for cancer research. Again, I would like to thank all the organisers for their great work and all the supporters and sponsors. It was a great night.