Lions Club donate to Blue Ribbon mammography unit project

The Lions Club of Ararat has donated significant funding to the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation Ararat Branch’s fundraising project, a mammography unit for the Blue Ribbon Foundation Wing at East Grampians Health Service.

Members of the Lions Club met with Blue Ribbon Ararat Branch members and EGHS staff to present a cheque for $20,000 towards the project.

The mammography unit project is the largest in the Ararat Branch’s 24-year history. The Ararat Branch has committed to raising $250,000 towards the purchase of the vital equipment, which will cost in total $296,000. Additional funds will be provided by East Grampians Health Service.

Mammography is a specialised breast x-ray imaging technique used for early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer.

Having a mammography unit at EGHS will enable the health service to offer an additional service to Ararat and surrounding areas by improving access to the national free screening program, BreastScreen, which can identify early signs of breast cancer in asymptomatic people.

It is estimated that EGHS could screen approximately 700 clients through BreastScreen each year and having a local service will reduce the need for long-distance travel, with Ballarat currently the closest service.

Ararat Branch president Dianne Radford was thrilled to accept the cheque on behalf of members.

“Almost everyone knows someone or has a relation who has been affected by cancer in some way,” she said.

“This donation from Lions is just incredible and I cannot thank them enough.”

Lions Club president Peter McNeil said the members of the club were delighted to support such a worthy cause.

Mrs Radford said the Ararat Branch had already raised $55,000 toward the project, with the Lions donation providing a welcome boost.

The EGHS Murray to Moyne Cycle Relay team is aiming to raise $10,000, which will also go towards the Blue Ribbon Foundation mammography unit project.

The Blue Ribbon Foundation’s next fundraising event for the mammography unit project will be the annual Gala Night, to be held on Friday May 29 at the Ararat Town Hall, with ticket details to be released soon.

Since the Ararat Branch of the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation was formed 24 years ago, it has donated more than $1.2 million to East Grampians Health Service.