Apr 12, 2022<\/p>\n
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Spirits were high and the energy was electric when the community gathered for an evening of fundraising and flavoursome food on Friday, April 9.<\/p>\n
Kagome and Echuca Regional Health teamed up to organise the fundraising cocktail party which involved a line-up of well-known chefs banding together to serve up an array of savoury and sweet treats to all who attended.<\/p>\n
Chefs Glenn Austin, George Calombaris, Luke Croston and Ryan Stevenson exceeded expectations with their mouth-watering creations.<\/p>\n
Mr Austin, a prestigious and world-renowned chef, played a significant role in the organisation of event \u2014 he was responsible for rounding up his celebrated mates and asking them to be involved.<\/p>\n
Kagome chief executive officer Jason Fritsch said the night would not have happened without Mr Austin.<\/p>\n
\"We do our best to support local communities and farmers,\u201d Mr Austin said in response.<\/p>\n
In an incredible result, more than 220 tickets and $180,000 was raised over the course of the night (this is an updated amount from the ERH thank you to sponsors page).<\/p>\n
The night involved a series of speeches from Mr Fritsch, ERH chief executive Robyn Lindsay and clinical liaison project officer Lyn Jeffreson.<\/p>\n
Ms Lindsay\u2019s said she was overwhelmed by the support of the chefs and the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are so privileged to see this level of support for our region\u2019s cancer centre,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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Although it seems like it, the fundraiser was not just about munching away at delicious food.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
Lucky door prizes and silent auctions were held and one-on-one interviews on stage between Mr Fritsch and all of the chefs were also littered throughout the night.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
Students from Moama Anglican Grammar worked as wait staff on the night.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
Mr Calombaris said he was amazed by the amount of people who came out in support of the new cancer facility.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really a testament to this community. They have really banded together in support of this cause,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"cocktail-event-fundraiser\"](\"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/foodarticle-highlight.jpg\")
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Representing ERH: ERH executive director of nursing and midwifery Maree Woodhouse with clinical liaison project officer Lyn Jeffreson. Photo by Steve Huntley<\/p>\n
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Ms Jeffreson will be overseeing the management of the cancer and wellness centre and said it was \u201creally nice\u201d to see everyone get together to support the facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving high-profile chefs like this in our town was special. This event was special. It\u2019s not something that you get to do or be a part of every weekend,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cocktail-themed party was a perfect combination of formal yet relaxed, the atmosphere was incredibly positive and everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"fundraiser-cocktail-party\"](\"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/foodarticle-crowd.jpg\")
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Good vibes: The atmosphere throughout the night was full of joy. Photo by Steve Huntley<\/p>\n
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Ms Jeffreson said she was excited about the current phase of the centre\u2019s development, which would not have been able to go ahead without the support of the community.<\/p>\n
She has been speaking to patients and people within the community to receive valuable input about the facility in order to create a suitable and relaxing atmosphere for people receiving treatment at the new centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, this facility is for the people, not for us. It\u2019s important that we include the community in these decisions,\u201d Ms Jeffreson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been gathering information about the colour scheme, atmosphere, design, decor and furniture that would feel most comfortable for anyone that will need to use the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Food, glorious food: Chefs involved in the fundraiser created mouth-watering canapes for attendees to munch on throughout the event. Photo by Steve Huntley Original Article By Adair Winder Apr 12, 2022 Spirits were high and the energy was electric when the community gathered for an evening of fundraising and flavoursome food on Friday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":757,"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions\/757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kagome.com.au\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}