Great Ryrie Grapevine

Katie's NF Fundraiser 

Flipper of Hope

As most of you may know, Katie in Year 3 suffers from Neurofibromatosis (NF). 

NF is a lifelong condition that causes tumours to develop anywhere on the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and all nerve endings. 

 

Katie currently has tumours in her brain, on her spinal cord and mild scoliosis. She has endured years of chemotherapy treatment since she was diagnosed at 18 months of age, recently finishing a 3 year stint in February on a new trial drug, Trametinib. Unfortunately the good news did not last long, having just last month gone back on treatment, this time is for at least another 2 years. We are devastated once again for her. Tumours can form at any time, and currently there is no cure. It is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Huntington's Disease, yet so little have heard of it.   

 

To raise awareness and money for vital NF research, Katie’s father Vid will be swimming in the Port to Pub in Western Australia next March. It's a gruelling 25km ocean swim from Fremantle to Rottnest Island. His motivation of pushing himself this hard is simple: 

“Katie faces challenges every day of her life, I will challenge myself by doing this for her”.  

 

Leading up to Vid's epic swim, we are holding a couple of fundraisers, where our online auctions will coincide with the events. Please if you can, get involved, enter our raffle, bid on some awesome items (get in early and snag someone a Chrissy present!, or give a donation to help him on his way of raising $30,000.

All prizes have kindly been donated by the advertised businesses and we are eternally thankful for their support. 

 

Money raised will be going to the Flicker of Hope Foundation, a Neurofibromatosis charity which focuses solely on research into better treatment options and hopefully one day, a cure. In a nod to the Flicker of Hope Foundation, Vid’s swim is called 'Flipper of Hope'. 

 

Our first fundraising event is on the 6th September at Bo Gurks in Edithvale https://www.bogurks.com.au/ . 

This online auction will coincide with this sold out event.  

 

The auction is open for browsing so see the details below on how to register and have a browse at the great items we have on offer.  The auction will go live on Thursday 1st September at 5pm and close at 9pm on 6th September, with the raffle being drawn then also, live at BoGurks.  

 

Our second event will be a cocktail evening in the East at Hyde Rooftop, Ringwood, on Saturday 11th February. Mark it in the diary as this will be a night not to be missed!

 

Sincere thanks from Claire & Vid (Katie's parents) 

 

 

Campaign Instructions 

To Register via SMS 

  1. Text: flipperofhope followed by your full name 
  2. To: 0427 767 784 
  3. Example: flipperofhope John Smith 
  4. Follow the registration link you are sent from GalaBid to log in and take part in the campaign. 

To Register via browser 

  1. Visit: https://app.galabid.com/flipperofhope 
  2. Click on the 'Register' button 
  3. Enter your details and click 'Register' 
  4. You will then receive a text to your mobile phone with a verification link. Clicking the link will take you to the auction where you can log in with the password you entered during registration. You are now ready to take part in the campaign.