WHEN asked how President of Can Assist in Guyra Bill Wicks and his wife Judy planned to spend the money they raised at the upcoming Variety Night, the pair claimed they had already spent it.
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Just hours before the couple were interviewed a woman had come to them for help after she lost her husband to cancer.
“This woman came to our home for help this morning but she has never asked us for a thing before now.
“Her husband had been sick with cancer for a very long time and had a lot of nasty and expensive treatment and she would never approach us for help.
“She came here this morning with her mother and had a lot of funeral expenses to face, we made an executive decision as to what extent we could go and we decided to pay for half of the funeral costs, that’s the biggest amount of money we’ve spent in one hit,” said Mr Wicks.
His wife Judy nodded: “The case that we had today you couldn’t help but go teary over it because of how much she had suffered.”
The couple are no strangers to cancer, it was the loss of their eldest daughter that led Bill to the role of President at Can Assist in Guyra.
“I think it came into the group’s thinking for us to be involved because we had lost our eldest daughter to breast cancer, someone had asked me if I would stand and I said that I would, that’s where it started for us,” he said.
The group helps sufferers with anything from money for fuel, to costs associated with treatment.
In small towns access to treatment isn’t readily available, and Mr Wicks said that many people need help but don’t know who to ask.
“That’s why we need to advertise that help is available.
“One of the problems that we face is that even in a little town you know someone who is sick but you can’t ring up and say, ‘Look, I know you’ve got a cancer problem in your home, can we help?’
“It’s got to be the other way around,” he said.
Can Assist will host a Variety Night at the Guyra Showground Community Hall on September 24. Tickets are available now and at the door for $30 for a night of social dancing, light supper and performances by local groups.
