Today was the official collection day for Canteen, the charity that helps teenagers deal with cancer and if you were out on the street today you would have seen a number of Wizards holding collection buckets for the worthy cause.
Canterbury Wizards Richard Sherlock, Rob Nicol and Carl Frauenstein hit the streets around Cashel Mall to raise awareness and funds for Canteen. The players were teamed up with charity volunteers to help encourage Cantabrians to donate big-heartedly.
Richard Sherlock said the response from the public was amazing. “It’s quite overwhelming to see people giving so generously,” he said. “People do genuinely want to give and it’s good to see Cantabrians giving so much to this worthy cause.”
Between 10-12,000 New Zealand teenagers have cancer and the money raised goes towards making their lives easier. One collector who has benefited from Canteen’s hard work is Rusty Boyd. He was diagnosed with cancer when he was 12 years old. He found a lump under his arm, thinking it was nothing serious but it turned out to be cancerous.
He underwent chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants and was in and out of hospital for two years. Canteen was there supporting him every step of the way, including providing funds for him to travel to Disneyland. These days he’s recovered and does what he can to give back to the charity that helped him through the hard times.
Boyd said having cancer puts things into perspective and now he lives life to the full. “It changed my life. It makes you appreciated things. You’re not ‘busy’ anymore,” he said. “I don’t get stressed; because if cancer won’t kill me then I’ve got nothing to worry about.”
He was teamed up with Rob Nicol for the collection day and said it was great to be out with the cricketer. “The sun in shining. We’ve got good company and good people. The winner on the day was Canteen,” Boyd said.
Although the charity’s official collection day was today, you can still donate and buy a bandanna in aide of Canteen’s annual Bandanna Week which runs between 15-30 October. Bandannas are available for purchase from Canterbury Cricket in Iversen Terrace.
