Mount Isa has some great fundraisers against the scourge of leukaemia with sisters Kathy Swift and Joyce Neilsen immediately coming to mind with their stall outside Coles.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Then there is the lady that started it all 40 years ago, Elaine Gamer OAM, a proud Mount Isan who now lives in Hervey Bay.
The North West Star caught up with Ms Gamer when she was in town for the Leukaemia Foundation Mount Isa branch Annual General Meeting last month.
“We had the dinner and they were so kind, they recognised also I was awarded the OAM,” Elaine said.
“But for me the accolade goes to all the people of Mount Isa and all the support people of Queensland because without them it would never have happened and when I wear my medal it will be for all of those people.”
Elaine was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her service to community health and picked up the medal at a ceremony in Brisbane on September 18.
Elaine was a board member of the Leukaemia Foundation of Queensland from 1988-2016 and a volunteer and fundraiser since 1979 and was instrumental in establishing Mount Isa and Sunshine Coast branches.
In 1978 Dr Ian Bunce treated Elaine’s daughter Lisa Gamer who was suffering from terminal leukaemia and in her final days she said to her mother, “when I go mum, will you do something for the people I’ve left behind’.
It was a message Elaine and husband Mal, sadly now also passed away, took to heart when they set up the Mount Isa branch.
Elaine still plays a very active interest in the fundraising and organisation of the branch even from 2000km away.
“Even though I live in Hervey Bay, Mount Isa is still home and once a month we have a catch-up on the Esplanade – they come from Bundaberg and everywhere and everyone brings a plate,” she said.
Even though I live in Hervey Bay, Mount Isa is still home
- Elaine Gamer
“Before we start the day there is an Irish singer named John Flanigan who used to manage at the Concordia Club and he always sings ‘I Still Call Mount Isa Home’ and everyone joins in.”
Elaine always comes back once a year.
“I love coming back, half the town is related to me, the other half is in the cemetery!” she said. “I love coming back, it will always be home.
Elaine said the Leukaemia Foundation has made wonderful progress and Queensland raises $1 million a year.
“These help fund Queensland’s five accommodation centres, one of which is in Townsville,” she said.
The next big Leukaemia Foundation fundraiser is Light Up the Night which this year is on November 10.