By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
IN THE clear, Springvale South resident and Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea organiser, Chris Kendell was notified of the good news in February this year after her breast cancer diagnosis in February 2010.
After five years patiently waiting, Ms Kendell threw a big celebration and said getting involved in the Cancer Council’s initiative has helped her move on from her own cancer experience.
“When you’ve had cancer you either have nothing to do with it or you throw yourself into it,” Ms Kendell said.
“I think it has helped me move on and get over it, you lose a lot of confidence when you have cancer,” she said.
Ms Kendell has been running Biggest Morning Tea events since 2011 and said this year will be the biggest yet thanks to her co-organisers, Barbara Hook and Barbara’s 10-year-old granddaughter Kiara.
Nicknamed Pixie by her grandmother, Kiara attended Ms Kendell’s Biggest Morning Tea last year and now calls the inspirational cancer survivor her best friend.
“She is a very special little girl and in one year has made Christmas cards and bracelets and sold them to raise money for this year’s Biggest Morning Tea.
“Kiara decorated a mirror for the chemotherapy ward at the South Eastern Private Hospital and now wants to be a breast nurse.
“This year she has raised $67 through her craft sales and last year she donated $27,” Ms Kendell said.
Ms Kendell runs a support group with a breast nurse from the South Eastern Private Hospital and said it has been a great success.
“A heap of us girls get together and have a wine and a cup of tea and a chat, which means a lot to us because no one knows what it’s like until you go through it and we’ve become like a close-knit family,” she said.
Ms Kendell said Kiara has been acting according to her nickname ‘Pixie’ and delivering pamphlets around town and putting signs in shop windows to advertise the event, which will be held at her very own primary school, Kingswood Primary School in Dingley Village on Sunday 3 May.
There will be games, face painting, craft, auctions, raffles and, of course, cups of tea available on the day.
Ms Kendell raised $1000 at her first Biggest Morning Tea event, $2000 in 2012, $3800 in her third year and $2000 in 2014 and is hoping for more than 100 people to share a cuppa with her on the day.
“It’s all about having fun, everyone’s giving from their hearts,” she said.
