By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
MATER CHRISTI Year 10 student Gemma Tripp has donated over $6000, raised at a trivia night, to cancer research.
As part of a school project, 15-year-old Gemma organised a trivia night to raise the money at the Emerald Hall in March, with a turnout of more than 100 people.
“I am so thankful for the support I received from my friends and family leading up to and on the night,” Gemma said.
The trivia night was sponsored by the Emerald Lions Club, so all the money raised by Gemma could be donated to the Cancer Council.
“I had the idea to do this because both of my grandparents were diagnosed with cancer,” Gemma said.
“My mum became their carer and I spent a lot of time in oncology wards and saw a lot of the great work the Cancer Council does.”
Gemma has decided to donate the money to the forgotten cancers project, which focuses on research around lesser-known types of cancer.
The project is run by the Cancer Council and aims to understand less common cancers and the underlying causes of their development.
Gemma said she chose to donate to the forgotten cancers project because her grandparents had less common forms of cancer.
“My pop had brain cancer and my grandmother had myeloma, both of these are not as well-known as say breast cancer.”
“I was very close to my grandparents and we moved between our house and their house for a long time,” she said.
“There was about half an hour travel between our houses.”
Gemma is hoping the forgotten cancers project will make a difference to understanding and being able to detect these cancers.
The researchers working on the project are looking to interview and collect saliva samples from 15,000 people diagnosed with a less common cancer.
Gemma said she really appreciated the support of the many businesses in the hills who donated items for the silent auction, also held on the night.
