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Tens of thousands of dollars have been donated to the Cancer Society as the Gore District and Tokanui brought out their wallets to pick up some daffodils and help out a good cause.
Daffodil Day, held late last month, is always a huge day of fundraising for the Cancer Society and this year was no different.
Gore area co-ordinator Sandy Smith said although the total for the Gore District was not fully counted, early estimates were over $35,000.
“It’s a really good effort. It’s pretty huge. It includes our street connection, our pre-orders and our canvassing around town.
“This year we did it a bit different — we sold about 475 bundles of daffodils just in businesses around Gore by canvassing,” she said.
Another huge result came from Tokanui, where Cancer Society navigator Aynsley Dermody said there was an amazing effort for the community to raise $37,245 on the Friday night.
This followed the previous year’s result which also raised over $30,000 for the Cancer Society, allowing Mrs Dermody to get a dedicated car for transport as she travels around visiting patients, helping people at a most critical time.
Mrs Smith said it was a local effort in which people got together, whether as a business or as individuals, and made the difference when it came to the end result.
“It’s supporting people in our local area who have cancer through all the many services. We’ve just all come together, like all those little different fundraisers which together have made such a big number.
“It makes a real difference. Nobody should think they’re not making a difference. I had a call from Silver Fern Farms, they said they had $870 for me to pick up because of a yellow raffle they held alongside a barbecue.
“It just shows what we can do together as a community when we pull together and support and that’s just so amazing,” she said.
The Gore Vintage Car Club also raised funds for the Southland Cancer Society through its recent car run to Lawrence, raffles and the sale of potted daffodils donated by Nancy Strang from Hokonui Pioneer Park.
With a $1000 donation from Regional Ford Gore, they contributed $2200 for Daffodil Day.