A worthy way to spend your Saturday night – with Samuel Johnson (and for Connie)
Posted on
Seven years on and our city still mourns the loss of Connie Johnson, a breast cancer warrior, cancer research fundraiser and the woman at the heart of the Love Your Sister movement. So here’s a word from her brother Sam…
Dear Her Canberra,
Samuel Johnson here. That bloke who was in The Secret Life of Us. That fella what played that Molly Meldrum bloke on the idiot box. That goose who unicycled around the country for 364 days. That guy with two left feet who somehow won the mirrorball trophy on that dancing show. Most importantly, that brother, who is still chipping away at the cancer conundrum and has helped raise nearly $20M for cancer research.
Fundraising can be challenging. There are 60,000 registered charities in this country, all fighting to be heard, and many of my campaigns tank. The Big Heart Project did not. Nearly 10,000 people came to the Lyneham Netball Courts and we raised a whopping $2.55M in five cent coins!
My sister Connie’s boys used to call it ‘Claire’s House’. They were referring to palliative Claire Holland House, on Lake Burley Griffin, where Connie said goodbye to us. On the day she died Sir Peter Cosgrove visited and awarded her an OAM for her services to research. It really was a rainbow ending.
I’m coming back to Canberra. Play for Purpose and Canberra Casino are putting on a snazzy party for us and I’ll be the one with bells on. There’ll be loads of facetime, so we can party together after my presentation. I have three double passes for Her Canberra readers so hit them up (on their instagram) and we can laugh together. There’s a reason we’re starting this national tour in Canberra. It’s where ‘Love Your Sister’ was born. It’s where my sister fought for herself, her family and all of us. See you there!
Sammy
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Party for Purpose with Love Your Sister
When: Saturday 17 August from 7-9 pm
Where: Casino Canberra, Binara Street, Civic
Web: Tickets are just $30 at loveyoursister.org