A garden raffle is an addition to the prizes the Dannevirke Cancer Support Group has organised for Daffodil Day. Photos / Supplied
A garden raffle is an addition to the prizes the Dannevirke Cancer Support Group has organised for Daffodil Day. Photos / Supplied
When Daffodil Day takes place tomorrow (Friday) it will be the 30th year this major Cancer Society fundraiser has been held.
Thousands of volunteers across New Zealand take to the streets with hosts of bright yellow blooms to sell, asking people to dig deep to support the work of theCancer Society for its annual flagship event - one of the most important fundraising and cancer awareness events on its calendar.
In Tararua, Dannevirke Cancer Support Group members and volunteers go above and beyond to help out in the run-up to Daffodil Day and on the day itself.
There are the many people who grow and donate their daffodils, the teams of pickers, the sellers and the ones who help in many other ways.
The task of sourcing the daffodils and organising pickers, as well as being one of the pickers, falls on support group member Erin Connors.
The Dannevirke Cancer Spport Group is fortunate in that all the daffodils the group sell on the day have been donated by locals.
They are Richard and Nancy Parker, Viv and Grant Trotter, Simon Herbert, Dave and Joy Murdoch, James and Delwyn Walker, Dot and Quentin Hooper-Smith, Jed Murphy, Diana Morris, Robin Barnett and Gil Hall and Kay Nilson.
As well as this dedicated group, Connors said about 15 people from the Weber, Herbertville and Norsewood areas contributed daffodils they picked themselves and dropped off in town.
Picking took place yesterday and today and involved about 30 people.
Connors said this year's crop of daffofils were early, but there were still plenty around. Overall co-ordinator of Daffodil Day is Sandra Haycock who organises the distribution of the daffodils and Cancer Society merchandise to the five sales points set up around the town as well as organising raffles.
A colourful garden raffle is an addition to the prizes the Dannevirke Cancer Support Group has organised for Daffodil Day. There will also be a laundry basket packed with groceries at stake.
Last year's Daffodil Day raised $10,000 so it's a mammoth task co-ordinating the event.
Each year the Cancer Society has a new teddy bear mascot. This year's bear is called Beau and he is bound to be a collectors' item as it is the last year after 30 years that the bears will be the official mascot.
Haycock has again organised a window-dressing competition to mark Daffodil Day and the winner of this will be announced tomorrow.
In past years ANZ Bank staff have hosted a quiz night in the lead up to Daffodil Day. This was taken over last year by For Homes/For Farms (NZ) Ltd and raised $10,000.
This year's quiz night was to have been held last evening (Wednesday) but has postponed until Wednesday September 9.
The Dannevirke Men's Cancer Group will play their part in the fundraiser on Saturday morning by manning a stall outside New World selling raffle tickets and merchandise.
