Community Pharmacy network plays the course to grant children’s wishes

Blooms The Chemist ‘drives’ for $55,000 in fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Australia at its fifth annual Charity Golf Day

Young boy shares the impact of having his wish granted

For the fifth year, Blooms The Chemist has played its part in raising essential funds for its inspirational charity partner, Make-A-Wish Australia, driving for $50,000 in donations at its annual Blooms The Chemist Charity Golf Day.

Hosted at the Strathfield Gold Club, the day brought together more than 125 corporate sponsors and ambassadors to participate in golf and a variety of other popular activities. This included the Longest (Marshmallow) Drive, Nearest to the Pin and the Straightest Drive – all in the spirit to raise funds so Make-A-Wish Australia can continue to grant critically ill children their wishes.

To showcase the importance of the work Make-A-Wish Australia do one brave young boy, Alec, who was just eight years old when he was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a form of cancer, was able to share his story together with his father, Peter.

First, Peter expressed his appreciation for Make-A-Wish Australia and partners like Blooms The Chemist, who do their part to make it possible to have critically ill children’s wishes, like Alec’s, granted.

“Alec had every challenge imaginable, and as a parent, the wish was just a wonderful thing,” said Peter.

“When Alec’s life was bleak, he had something great to look forward to by knowing his wish was about to come true. As the wish approached, he was taking a little longer to get to sleep at night and waking up a little bit earlier. We will forever be grateful that Alec and our family has that memory, which brought so much happiness in what was a very challenging time,” he said.

Three years on, Alec reflected on his wish and just how much the opportunity to become a train driver with Sydney Trains truly meant during a time of great pain, after an intense operation and endless rounds of chemotherapy and radiation.  

When asked if he would choose the same wish, Alec replied without hesitation “I would definitely choose the same wish to become a train driver for a day, together with my family and friends. Nothing can beat that.”

“It’s an honour to be here today to raise these important funds for Make-A-Wish Australia,” said Blooms The Chemist’s CEO, Emmanuel Vavoulas.

“With the generous support and fundraising efforts of those here today, we will hit our $50,000 target for Make-A-Wish Australia, which will assist the charity in being able to continue granting the wishes of sick children, like Alec, across the country.

“Blooms The Chemist is a long-time partner of Make-A-Wish and everyone in the business is touched and proud to play their part to ensure as many children’s wishes as possible can be granted,” he said.

Make-A-Wish Australia’s Head of Partnerships, Rhiahne Ralph, emphasised the importance of partners like Blooms The Chemist to ensure the charity continues its important work.

“Make-A-Wish Australia is reliant on donations and funding from our corporate partners and the broader Australian community. Without these fundraising efforts, we would not have been able to grant the wishes of Alec, and more than 830 other sick children, over the 12-month period between 2020-2021,” said Ms Ralph.

“We cannot thank enough Blooms The Chemist and all the corporate sponsors and ambassadors who attended today for the wonderful work they do to support us.”

The other corporate sponsors who made the day possible include:

• Symbion (major sponsor)
• Stirling Fildes (major sponsor)
• Caruso’s Natural Health (19th hole sponsor)
• Bellrock Broking (ball sponsor)
• Reckitt (branded attire sponsor)
• Access Projects (Longest (marshmallow) Drive)
• iNova Pharmaceuticals (Straightest Drive)
• Aretex (Nearest to pin)
• AFT Pharmaceuticals (refreshment cart)

The inaugural Blooms The Chemist Charity Golf Day was held in 2017, the initiative of Andrew Yap (Pharmacist-owner Blooms The Chemist Surry Hills) and CEO Emmanuel Vavoulas when he was a Pharmacist-owner in the network. Since the Make-A-Wish Australia partnership began in 2016, Blooms The Chemist has raised more than $1.3 million from many initiatives across its pharmacy network, Business Support Office, and through the kind contributions of its local communities across the country.