The 2008/2009 year has been an eventful and exciting year for CCC Foundation. The global economic downturn may have affected the amount of donations expected; however it didn’t affect our fundraising plans or our commitment to our projects.
Best Practice in Medical Treatment and Care:
We are extremely proud to say that our partners; Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) and Peter MacCallum 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 visited NCI in November 2008. Nihara with support and guidance from Aldo Rolfo, Director of Radiation Therapy, and David Willis, Charge Research Radiation Therapist was able to implement a procedure to increase the accuracy of radiation therapy treatment as well as making the process more efficient. Nihara was able to make several other improvements in her five weeks at NCI such as the resource centre with library and computer facilities, 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. Dr. Keith attended a ward round and conducted some discussion andtraining to the paediatric oncology team. Dr. Keith’s recommendation in 2004 to have dedicated paediatric oncologists looking after the children was implemented in 2005. To date they have three oncologists with the fourth due to join the team in the coming months.
Bushfire Appeal Concert:
CCC took a lead role in a collaborative effort with 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 a month after the Black Saturday tragedy. Approximately 2000 people attended the concert CCC were able to donate over $20,000 to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal Fund. CCC would like to thank the organisations and individuals who were involved in the fundraising efforts. The concert was also a token gesture 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 our corporatestakeholders. Adrian Fernando and the CCC Events Committee put in a great effort to attract more than 400 guests to the event. The aim is to have the CCC Ball in order to raise $100,000 on the night by 2012. We had our third annual Taste of Lanka Dinner Dance in May 2009. This event is a great way to raise funds and involve the Sri Lankan community in CCC projects.
In November 2008, the CCC Sri Lanka team had its inaugural CCC Ball at the prestigious and charming Mount Lavinia Beach Hotel in Colombo. Several local bands donated 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 behind our fundraising drives have been to raise funds for the CCC House.The later part of 2008 was mainly to finalise all plans and the clearing of land for construction. Construction started in January 2009 and there has 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 in future will depend on funding. For more information, please click here.
CCC Line Project:
Sri Lanka has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, particularly for women. CCC has been looking into and investigating this project for several years and after discussions with the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Angoda and Chairperson of Sri Lanka Telecom in June 2009, the CCCline was launched in December 2009.
A word from Jetha Devapura, Founder & Chairman, CCC Foundation Inc.
“It 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 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 CCC Committee consists of volunteers whose commitment is second to none.
The fuel to keep the CCC team moving forward has been our sponsors and supporters. Without them we are unable to carry 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.”
