By Colin MacGillivray
THE Kilmore Football Netball Club and wider Mitchell Shire community are rallying around Tom de Sousa and his family after the young footballer and father was diagnosed with brain cancer late last year.
Mr de Sousa received the devastating diagnosis only weeks before Christmas and, after confiding in the club, decided to publicly disclose his battle last month.
The Blues have organised a major fundraiser to support Mr de Sousa, his wife Hope and their young daughter Eden, with all proceeds from the upcoming Big Night In event on March 18 going directly towards supporting the family’s medical expenses.
The de Sousa name is synonymous with not only the Blues, but the Kilmore township itself, with Tom’s father Tony serving as a local doctor for about four decades.
Kilmore Football Netball Club president Ben Egan said as soon as he found out about Tom’s diagnosis, he and the club offered to help in any way they could.
“I work with one of his brothers, who told me. Amongst the club we kept it in-house, but right from the start we said whatever they wanted, we would make it happen,” Mr Egan said.
“If they didn’t want us to do anything publicly, that was fine, but if they did we were ready to go whenever they reached out.
“The ball was in their court and we didn’t want to force anything on them, because everyone’s battle is different and some people want to keep it private while others are happy for it to be out there.”
The club shared a GoFundMe fundraising webpage two weeks ago, with more than $8800 of a $10,000 target raised as of Monday.
But the club hopes to raise more money through its Big Night In.
Mr Egan said the event would feature live music, food, raffles and several auction items.
“We will play a couple of practice games against Coburg Districts during the day from about 12pm, and the event itself will kick off from 5pm,” Mr Egan said.
“All of Tom’s brothers are going to play on the day – Chris, Tony Jr and Pete. Pete has played for us for years and is a senior best and fairest, but to have them all play is a nice touch.”
Mr Egan said fundraising would be done through a raffle, with tickets now on sale, and a major auction featuring a range of sporting memorabilia, products such as power tools and vouchers for experiences.
“Kilmore Trackside has donated the naming rights to races for their next race day, which entitles the winning bidder to not only name the race, but lunch and a few other things,” he said.
“[The night will also be] a party and a celebration. It’s not meant to be dour or down. It will be great to have the whole de Sousa family there and have a party with them.”
With the Big Night In set to serve as the final function in Kilmore’s old clubrooms before they are demolished to make way for a new pavilion at JJ Clancy Reserve, Mr Egan said many people with historic ties to Kilmore had been invited.
He said while Mr de Sousa’s diagnosis had rocked the club, a small silver lining was the spirit the community showed to pull together for him and his family.
“For me as president, I would have done [a fundraiser] with no help but everyone has thrown themselves into it,” he said.
“It has reaffirmed the need for us to be a community club and to give back to the community. This is a perfect example of the community coming together. Everyone is united.
“Our contracted players have donated their wages from the first game and we’ve got two boys running a marathon on Sunday, going from the club around Broadford and back, to try to raise money.
“Other clubs have reached out as well. Teams we play against have offered to make donations, which is really good.”
People can donate to the GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/f/tom-de-sousa-family and more information about the Big Night In is available by emailing kilmorefncpresident@gmail.com or calling 0425 745 209.
