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All records were broken yesterday when 600 of the Sunshine Coast’s most high profile business people got together for a glamorous afternoon at the Palmer Coolum Resort with Natalie Barr, Mark Beretta and Mahalia Barnes raising over $120,000 for a good cause.
The Wishlist Spring Carnival Lunch which is supported by Coastline BMW, is one of the Coast’s most well-supported events but this year exceeded all expectations and the targeted $118,200 required to purchase the much-needed Prostate Biopsy Ultrasound for the Coast.
Lisa Rowe, CEO of Wishlist, said many guests were surprised to find out that the number of men dying from prostate cancer in Australia every year equalled the number of women dying from breast cancer as the cause has far less profile within the community.
“While in the past our focus for this event has been on raising funds for kids, this year the committee recognised the importance of supporting men’s health which is often pushed to the backburner,” said Lisa.
“This equipment will give us a dedicated ultrasound for prostate biopsies in an outpatient setting on the Coast, reducing waiting lists and the number of trips to the hospital required before an accurate diagnosis is possible. As you can imagine, waiting for diagnosis and subsequent treatment due to lack of resources impacts not only on a cancer patient’s physical wellbeing, but also their psychological state of mind so this will help improve the difficult journey for local prostate cancer patients.”
The lunch, which sells out months before the event, attracted a number of other celebrities including speed merchant, Chris Vermeulen, Australian and Queensland cricketer, Lee Carseldine, Ironman Matt Poole and Ironwoman Candice Falzon who are both coming up from Sydney and Kieran Perkins.
The big sound of Mahalia Barnes and her band created a great energy in the room and set the scene for the live auction of 12 big-ticket items. ‘Beretts’ added to the entertainment when he took over proceedings to auction off 120 bottles of wine from Travis Schultz’ private collection which went for an impressive $7,000.
Other big ticket items included a fully-wrapped bus for eight months donated by Go Transit at $17,000, a painting by artist Kendall Perkins which went for $9,000 and a weekend for two at Phillip Island including a one-day BMW Intensive Driver Training Course instructed by Le Mans and Bathurst winner, Geoff Brabham which raised $8,000.
“The feedback from guests about the fantastic atmosphere in the room has been amazing with many enjoying the after party late into the night,” said Lisa.
“Travis Schultz and the committee have once again raised the bar and with such an incredible outcome we look forward to seeing what’s on the cards for 2013!”