WHILE blue and yellow, and red and white uniforms brought their regular footy colour to Marty Busch Reserve last Sunday, there was also a touch of purple and green.<\/p>\n
The first ever Footy for Fiona games were played between Sebastopol and Ballarat junior football clubs, from under-11s to under-17s, raising funds and awareness for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute.<\/p>\n
Phoenix College students were the brains and leaders behind the initiative, including year 12 Nathan Page, who plays footy for Burra.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our VCAL community impact project we had to pick a foundation to support, so as a cohort we picked Fiona Elsey because it\u2019s Ballarat-based,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we\u2019ve run bake sales and sausage sizzles, sold raffle tickets, and put up lots of posters around the ground so people can find out more about the cause, how it works, and how they can get involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur young people are the future of the community, so the more they can understand about the cause, and have awareness of it at an early age, the more ongoing awareness they can create around it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teacher Maree Hall said VCAL staff \u201cplanted the seed,\u201d and after a brainstorm, the students have since been autonomous, designing the project themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pretty proud of them,\u201d she said. \u201cAnyone that we\u2019ve asked for help and sponsorship has jumped above and beyond, and have been so generous. We\u2019re blessed with our strong community in Sebas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Small groups of students are organising further basketball, bingo, barefoot bowls, and dinner fundraisers for FECRI as the year goes on.<\/p>\n
FECRI\u2019s marketing and events coordinator Sally Walsh said the Institute is thrilled with the young people and their leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are our future fundraisers, supporters, scientists, and unfortunately, they could potentially have cancer one day, so this is a community issue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny community support is crucial to any improvements for the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
FECRI board members and scientists made presentations to the teams after their games, and spent time at the cake stall and barbecue to speak to families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHILE blue and yellow, and red and white uniforms brought their regular footy colour to Marty Busch Reserve last Sunday, there was also a touch of purple and green. The first ever Footy for Fiona games were played between Sebastopol and Ballarat junior football clubs, from under-11s to under-17s, raising funds and awareness for the […]<\/p>\n