The annual Wishlist Spring Carnival Luncheon was action packed on Friday 21st September. 600 of the Sunshine Coast’s residents glammed up in their finest for a glamorous afternoon at the Palmer Coolum Resort to help raise over $120,000.
The Wishlist Spring Carnival is one of the Coast’s most well-supported events, and this year was no exception. With the help of hosts Natalie Barr and Mark Beretta, performer Mahalia Barnes and auctioneer Dan Sowden the event exceeded all expectations. The goal was to raise the $118,200 required to purchase the much-needed Prostate Biopsy Ultrasound for the Coast.
Principal of Ray White Maroochydore, Dan Sowden created a great energy in the room for the live auction of 12 big-ticket items. He also added to the entertainment when he asked ‘Beretts’ to take over proceedings to auction off 120 bottles of wine from Travis Schultz’ private collection. This item went under the hammer for an impressive $7,000.
3,300 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, making it one of Australia’s fastest killers. Lisa Rowe, CEO of Wishlist, said many guests were surprised to find out that the number of men dying from prostate cancer in Australia every year equalled the number of women dying from breast cancer as the cause has far less profile within the community.
“This equipment will give us a dedicated ultrasound for prostate biopsies in an outpatient setting on the Coast, reducing waiting lists and the number of trips to the hospital required before an accurate diagnosis is possible. As you can imagine, waiting for diagnosis and subsequent treatment due to lack of resources impacts not only on a cancer patient’s physical wellbeing, but also their psychological state of mind so this will help improve the difficult journey for local prostate cancer patients” said Lisa.
Other big ticket items included a fully-wrapped bus for eight months donated by Go Transit at $17,000, a painting by artist Kendall Perkins which went for $9,000 and a weekend for two at Phillip Island including a one-day BMW Intensive Driver Training Course instructed by Le Mans and Bathurst winner, Geoff Brabham which raised $8,000. This was in conjunction with approximately 500 quality silent auction items.
More information on Wishlist can be found at http://www.wishlist.org.au/