The tall and not-so-tall captaincy combo will join other celebrities and Mater patients to unveil a series of giant hand-decorated Easter eggs which they painted together two weeks ago in the hospital’s Circus of Dreams playground.
Brown and Power worked with two Mater ‘little miracles’, namely four-year-old kidney transplant recipient Frank Skinner and long-time club-adopted lung patient Elly-May Bowen to create the artistic eggs. Seven-year-old Elly-May was diagnosed with a rare lung condition four years ago and has become a familiar face around the Mater. She is also a huge Lions fan and loves to kick a footy around with the players when they visit the kids in hospital.
The Mater Foundation’s annual Mater Little Miracles Easter Appeal runs from April 1 – 30 and aims to raise $250,000 to support the care of sick kids and babies at the Mater Mothers’ and Children’s Hospitals.
Mr Nigel Harris, Executive Director of the Mater Foundation, said the Easter Appeal is key to Mater’s ability to deliver exceptional health care to babies and children at the Mater.
“In 2006, more than 17,000 children were cared for as inpatients at Mater Children’s Hospital, 50,000 were treated as outpatients and over 36,000 received care in the emergency department,” said Mr Harris.
“In addition, our Mater Mothers’ Hospital brought more than 8,000 new Queenslanders into the world and provided life-saving care to more than 1,500 premature and seriously ill babies in our intensive and special care nurseries.”
The launch will officially kick-start a new partnership between the Mater Foundation and Vodafone Brisbane Lions who are based just a few hundred metres apart on Stanley Street at the Gabba. During the season, players will be visiting the wards to spread some AFL TLC while the Mater will visit the Gabba on match-days to give spectators the chance to support a very worthwhile cause.
“After feedback from our members, the club was seeking one solid community partner to really back during 2007 instead of running a whole lot of different raffles and lotteries on game days,” said Lions Chief Executive Michael Bowers.
“The Lions wanted to genuinely make a difference to an organisation’s fundraising while at the same time have some players put some more smiles on some more faces around the community. They say charity begins at home and the Mater Hospital is almost right on our doorstep.
“They are a highly respected, incredibly switched-on and passionate organisation doing an incredible job seven days a week. So it was an obvious choice who to partner with – our very own Gabba neighbours at the Mater Foundation,” Mr Bowers said.
One of the major fundraising initiatives of the Mater Foundation is the Mater Prize Home Lottery. Lions AFL Club members have the opportunity to purchase tickets in the latest lottery - Mater Prize Home #205 - which offers you the chance to win a fully furnished home on the Gold Coast valued at more than $400,000.
When you purchase tickets, don’t forget to join the Mater Prize Home VIP Club and you will be entered into the draw to win two tickets to a Corporate Box at the Gabba. For your chance to be treated like a star as you cheer on the mighty Lions, join the VIP Club today.
Simply freecall 1800 067 066 or visit www.materprizehome.com.au (Please quote 'Lions-W' when ordering tickets).
You can support the Mater Little Miracles Easter Appeal by purchasing Little Miracles merchandise such as pens, tattoo sheets and Miracle Max key rings and large plush toys from appeal partners IGA, Bendigo Bank, Guardian Pharmacies and selected Australia Post outlets.
For information, contact the Mater Foundation on (07) 3840 8000, freecall 1800 440 155 or visit www.materfoundation.com.au
