The 2008/2009 year has been an eventful and exciting year for the CCC Foundation. The global economic down may have affected the amount of donations expected; however it didn’t affect our fundraising plans or our commitment with our projects.
Best Practice in Medical Treatment and Care :
We are extremely proud to say that our partners the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) and Peter Mac Callum Cancer Centre (Peter Mac) both made its presence felt at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Maharagama. Nihara Pathirana, CCC member and Radiation Therapist from Peter Mac made Peter Mac’s first official visit possible to NCI in Nov 2008. Nihara’s visit was to investigating current processes for Radiation Therapy and to identify projects that can be implemented without too much difficulty. With support and guidance from the Director of Radiation Therapy, Aldo Rolfo and Charge Research Radiation Therapist, David Willis, Nihara was able to implement a procedure to increase the accuracy of Radiation Therapy treatment as well as make the process more efficient. Nihara was also able to make several other suggestions for improvements. Nihara spend five weeks at NCI.
Two other projects recommended by Nihara were the resource centre (library and computer) and a kids play and waiting area. The CCC Sri Lanka Team completed both these projects by March 2009.
It was also great to see Dr. Keith Waters from the RCH make his third visit to NCI in June 2009. It was a quick visit to review progress at the Peadiatric Oncology Ward. Keith attended a ward round and conducted some discussion/training to the oncology team at the paediatric section. Keith’s recommendation in 2004 to have dedicated paediatric oncologists looking after the children was implemented in 2005 with only one oncologist for the children’s section. It was very pleasing to see that today they have three oncologists with the fourth due to join the team in the next six months.
Bushfire Appeal Concert :
CCC took a lead role in a collaborative effort by Sri Lankan organisations to raise funds for those affected by the black Saturday bushfires. It was a mammoth effort to organise an open-air concert with food and entertainment within a month of black Saturday. We had approx 2000 people who attended the concert and we are extremely proud to say together we were able to donate just over $20,000 to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal Fund. I like to thank the many organisations and individuals who got involved and contributed towards this appeal. The concert was to raise funds and also as a token thank you to all Australians for the great support they showed to those affected by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Sri Lanka.
Fundraising Events:
Keeping in line with our strategy of attracting a more corporate clientele to CCC Ball in July, we made another leap in venue from the Power House to the prestigious Flemington Racecourse. The ticket price also increased from $75 to $110 making this annual fundraiser a more formal affair and also suited to the corporates. It was great to see approx 400 guests and overall we had very good feedback. Adrian Fernando and the CCC events Committee needs to be congratulated on a great effort. The aim is to develop the CCC Ball to be able raise $100,000 on the night by 2012. We are still a fare way from this goal, however have our aim set on the target.
We had our 3rd annual Taste of Lanka Dinner Dance in May and as usual there is a good turn out and people enjoy the Sri Lankan cuisine. This is a great event to raise funds and also involve the Sri Lankan community to let them know about the projects in Sri Lanka.
In Nov 2008, the CCC Sri Lanka Team had its inaugural CCC Ball at the prestigious and charming Mount Lavinia Beach Hotel in Colombo. It was extremely well organised with several local bands donating their time and talent to the cause. Headed by Maya Weerapura and Tusitha Kumarakulasingham, the CCC Sri Lanka Team did a fantastic job in making their first CCC Ball a success.
CCC House Project :
The main purpose for our fundraising drives have been towards the CCC House, a 170 bed cancer transit home for underprivileged cancer outpatients and their carers. The later part of 2008 was mainly to finalise all plans and the clearing the land for construction. Construction started in Jan 2009 and there as been good progress to date. At the end of June 2009 Stage 1 of Phase 1 had its foundations, the main concrete supports and the first level slab complete. Progress from here on will depend mainly of funding. There is an approx requirement of $500,000 to complete Stage 1 of Phase 1 which we allow bed for up to 50 children, carers and adult cancer outpatients. We currently have a total in cash and pledges equalling approx $350,000. We still require $150,000 to complete this stage by end of April 2010. Please see CCC House Project Proposal attached.
CCC Line Project :
A new and exciting project for CCC is the CCCline Project, a telephone counselling service that provides emotional support and guidance to people facing challenges in their lives. The CCCline’s 1333 number is a free service accessible to all Sri Lankans island wide. It offers counseling as well as information to other support services available in the callers local area. Sri Lanka has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, particularly for women. CCC has been looking into and investigating this vital project for several years. Discussions with the Director of the National Institute of mental Health (NIMH), Angoda and Chairperson of Sri Lanka Telecom in my visit to Sri Lanka in June 2009 has given this project some new light and CCC hopes to launch this service in Dec 2009.
It really has been a fantastic year for CCC and credit must go to the CCC Committee in Australia and Sri Lanka and also to our Partners for their effort and passion to work through the challenges and serve those less fortunate than themselves. CCC has been in operation for over 6 years and I’m proud to say that 100% of the funds raised go to our projects. The Committee’s consist of volunteers whose commitment is second to none.
The fuel to keep the CCC Team going forward has been our sponsors and supporters. Without them we are unable to carryout out our projects. On behalf of the CCC Committee I take this opportunity to thank you all once again for your support and look forward to your support in the future.
Jetha Devapura – Founder & Chairman, CCC FOUNDATION INC.
