By Pam Kiriakidis
A Wallan mother who has had her own challenges to overcome this year is on the mission to fundraise for brain cancer.
Kristy Degiorgio and her brother Patrick started their fundraising when Patrick cut his hair at the Craigieburn Annual Truck and Bike Show last month, raising $900 for the Isabella and Marcus Foundation.
The 32-centimetre chop of Patrick’s hair was inspired by friend Frank Tringali, whose son was diagnosed with brain cancer at age five, and successfully fought his condition.
“[My brother Patrick and I] were sitting with a good friend of ours and started talking about his son’s history and his brain tumour and the Isabella and Marcus Foundation that he supported,” Ms Degiorgio said.
“I’m one of those people who will get something in my mind [and] do it, so I said let’s do a fundraiser.”
Ms Degiorgio started to reach out to local businesses, organised raffles with her brother’s shop Mitchell Shire Motor Trimmers and set up an online donation platform with a $10,000 goal.
After completing her first fundraiser at Craigieburn, Ms Degiorgio said she hoped more Mitchell Shire and Craigieburn businesses would come on board to donate before the raffles were drawn.
“Realistically I would love to get it out there … and try and raise money for these people because they’re nearly at the point where they [can] do … another trial and [I] want to try and help them to that goal as much as they can,” she said.
Ms Degiorgio said the event brought her closer to the founding families of the foundation who were trying to enable clinical trials and treatment for children and young adults with brain cancer.
“We have become really great friends and close and they’re absolutely beautiful, they attended on the day [of the show],” she said.
“We’re really honoured that they were there and travelled really far to come there, and I’ve now become a volunteer for their support group.
“We [also] had our good friend [Frank], and we went live on stage, I got to cut the ponytail off which was very fulfilling for me.”
Ms Degiorgio, a support worker with four children, said the fundraiser came at the right time for her family after they had gone through a few rough patches, including having their home robbed earlier this year.
“We got left with nothing, and [what] was left was damaged, we had some puppies, and they stole them,” she said.
“This foundation has made me think of the positives, not the negatives.”
Despite the challenges, Ms Degiorgio said she would continue to seek positivity through her family who have made the effort to contribute to the foundation.
“My daughter Madison, she’s actually helped me a lot with the organising … she did a really great job, you know, stood up and worked beside me,” she said.
“I think we’ve gone through hell, myself and my children, and doing this foundation was a massive, positive thing for me at the time to try and help my mental stress.”
To help Ms Degiorgio and her brother reach their goal, people can make a donation by visiting .
Raffle tickets are $2 each or three for $5, and can be purchased via Kristy Degiorgio on Facebook or by calling 0497 195 442.
