Meat Workers Help Local Cancer Patients

WORKERS from JBS in Scone handed over a cheque for $840 to the Scone Cancer Support Group and the Cancer Council yesterday, following their Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea last week, with delectable delights from around the world.

Craig Miller, plant manager at JBS, said the staff approached him to run the morning tea, which they wholeheartedly supported.

Some of the JBS workers who prepared the morning tea handing over the money raised to representatives of the Scone Cancer Support Group. L-R: Shanti Bienvenido, June Day, Sirikorn Ninnet, Linda Crawford, Melanie Bienvenido and Yolanda Spinks.

“The workers came to us several weeks ago and wanted to participate in some fundraising and they selected the Biggest Morning Tea as a really good opportunity to do some charity work within the plant and give something back to the community,” said Mr Miller.

“The ladies are from all over the world with different nationalities, they put hours of work into preparing this and got the support of the whole plant…..it really brought the plant together for a better cause,” he said.

“We’ve raised over $800 just from the morning tea in the plant, these guys have done it all themselves, from our point of view and from JBS it is important we get the message out to Scone we are really attempting to integrate into the community, we are the biggest employer in Scone and we have got a really great multicultural workforce that is very stable and our future up here is looking great,” he said.

“All the money was donated from gold coin donation, we have 442 people up in the plant, they all came down and got a plate and kindly donated as best as they could…..to get the workers to drive it is really important,” he said.

“Next year we want to do it bigger and better and get involved in more things like this,” he said.

“The morning tea itself comes under the umbrella of the Australian Cancer Council so we split it up, obviously donating to the bigger cause but also the local Scone Cancer Support Group,” Craig Miller said.

June Day from the Scone Cancer Support Group was on hand to accept the money raised from the morning tea and was excited to talk about what the money will go towards.

“It puts us into a position where we can buy equipment and a program called Helping Hands which enables people to stay home as long as possible with any terminal illness, not just cancer,” said Ms Day.

“The equipment is hired out free of charge through the OT’s at Scone Hospital, Helping Hands is a program to deliver food hampers to people coming home from treatment, going through treatment or just in a difficult time,” she said.

“We also have a thing we started this year which is a transport subsidy for people who travel down from Scone or the Upper Hunter Shire area to treatment in  Newcastle, Sydney or Armidale, we supplement their travel,” she said.

“I’d like to thank the ladies who cooked, they were brilliant and we would like to thank JBS, just thankyou!” June Day said.