Two of the John Hunter Children's Hospital Kids Club volunteers have bravely faced the stylist's clippers and doffed their locks in an effort to raise funds for the purchase state-of-the-art medical equipment for children being treated at the hospital.
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Mariola Brock of Broadmeadow has been volunteering with the Children's Hospital Kids Club for almost two years and on a recent night at home, over a glass of wine, she was racking her mind for fundraising ideas to help bring the all-volunteer Kids Club out of its COVID-imposed fundraising hiatus.
"I thought, I'll shave my head," she said, but little did she know at the time, she would not be doing it alone.
"At the end of the Kids Club meeting in March, Mariola said she had decided to cut her hair and Polly just said 'And I'm doing it with her'," Club president Jan Waugh said. "We all thought, 'What?!'"
Polly Felsch of Belmont North is the Kids Club vice president and has been with the volunteer group for around four years, in which time they have raised tens of thousands of dollars for the purchase of vital equipment to assist in the treatment of children at John Hunter.
"I wanted to do some volunteer work," Ms Felsch said of joining with the Kids Club, "And I thought, what's better than helping children?"
The goal is the purchase of a new bedside ultrasound machine, which allows doctors to forego more invasive procedures, like colonoscopy, when treating young people for bowel conditions all in a matter of minutes.
"It's really a breakthrough," Ms Waugh said, "The resolution of the machine is so good and it allows doctors to diagnose a child in 15 minutes."
Around 50 supporters and volunteers gathered at the Tingira Heights Community Church on Saturday to cheer on Ms Felsch and Ms Brock as they raised around $4000 towards their goal.
Community donations can be made via the John Hunter Children's Hospital Kids Club website.
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Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
