By Sean McParland, Student Voice Leader
We all saw him shave his head (courtesy of Dr Obrien) for the Be Brave & Shave Campaign, but what motivated Sports and Leisure Captain Corey Stevens to go above and beyond?
The Leukaemia Foundation’s ‘World’s Greatest Shave’ is one of Australia biggest fundraisers where each March more than 150,000 people will get sponsored to shave or colour their hair to support
Australians with blood cancer and fund research.
Today, 34 Australians will be given the devastating news that they have leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma, and they’ll turn to the Leukaemia Foundation for help. Although survival rates are improving, blood cancers are the third biggest cause of cancer death in Australia.
Getting sponsored to shave, colour or wax the hair on your head, chest or face, is an extraordinary way to help families facing the challenge of blood cancer and to help Australia’s best researchers. The money that sponsors provide will go towards research, which is needed to discover kinder and more effective treatments for blood cancer. Sponsorships will also support families when they need it most, providing people with leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma with a free home-away-from-home near hospital during their treatment. It will also mean the Foundation can provide transport to suffers, to and from appointments and provide as much practical assistance and emotional support as they can, all free of charge.
The Leukaemia Foundation receives no ongoing government funding, so supporting the event makes their Vision to Cure and Mission to Care possible.
(More information can be found directly at their website here: http://worldsgreatestshave.com/ )
Corey Stevens is definitely one incredible human and member of the CMC community. I myself am very privileged to be working alongside him this year as part of the Leadership Team and extremely thankful to have got to know Corey throughout my time at the College.
Corey is the type of person who will put his hand up for anything. He is very strong in his moral beliefs and this shows in the action he has undertook for this great cause. He is determined, strong, humble, positive, a great leader – an inspiration to us all. Not to mention Corey is simply just a great bloke!
To the Question & Answers:
- What motivated you to undertake this? My brother Jack was diagnosed with Leukaemia in March 2012, he went through 3 and a half years of chemotherapy to attempt to rid his body of the cancer. As Jacks chances of the cancer returning within 5 years is quite high, I wanted to raise money to help support research into stopping this cancer from coming back. So eventually we can find a cure so that other families don’t have to go through the same hardships that we went through.
- What impact do you hope to make? The impact that I wanted to make was to create awareness in the community about this terrible disease and to raise some much needed funds for the Leukaemia foundation not only for researching, but also for better treatment methods to help all those suffering with the disease every day.
- What impact has this made on you? This has impacted me by knowing that I have done my best to help the researchers potentially find a cure and possibly made someone consider participating in the event next year.
- Let’s say some of us like our hair a bit too much, what else can we do to support your cause? If you didn’t want to shave your head you could always still participate by colouring your head just for the day, either that or you could always donate even as little as a dollar towards the cause – every little bit can make a difference to someone’s life.
- How did this all start? It all started just after my brother got diagnosed and I was researching the disease trying to understand what my brother was about to go through. As I was scrolling down the pages I found the Leukaemia foundations website. As I read through the site I found the page about the world greatest shave and found it a great way to help out my brother by raising money for research towards a cure.
- Will you continue each year to be a part of the campaign? I will try to, as I feel it is a way to have a bit of fun and a laugh whilst trying to raise money for a good cause. It also makes you feel really good once you have had your head shaven thinking that just shaving your head has raised much needed funds for charity.
- Do you think charity should be a part of everyone’s life? I think those who are able should strive to at least participate in one charitable event over the year. Without people who volunteer their time to projects to help others, or people who give money to charities that help those most in need; there will be many others, who like my brother, will go through the torment and hardships that cancer brings with nope hope for a future where cancer is a thing of the past.
- What do you rate Dr Obrien’s hairdressing skills? Everyone is blessed with their own talents, some are good runners, some are very smart and some are gifted with being able to get millions of likes on Facebook. Dr Obrien has a gift of being a great teacher and principle who is respected by the whole college community. Although when it comes to hairdressing… I think that she may be better off leaving it to the professionals, it was a valiant first attempt but probably won’t recommend her to a friend.
On behalf of the Clairvaux MacKillop College community, I would like to thank Corey for his efforts in undertaking this! Even if it’s just one small action, in the bigger picture, it will and does make a great change. Corey is certainly #Leavinghismark!
Anima Scholastica 