IT’S become a permanent fixture in the calendar over the years but few stop to think how the Bakers Delight Pink Bun campaign actually changes lives.
This is the 15th year Bakers Delight has teamed up with Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) and from May 11 to June 3 it will once again donate 100 per cent of the proceeds of their pink sticky buns to the charity.
During the Pink Bun campaign, Bakers Delight bakeries are also adorned with messages from customers, written on colourful Pink Lady paper silhouettes purchased for a gold coin donation.
Mandurah resident Lee Sieracki, a breast cancer survivor, dedicates her life to the work which BCNA does and since 2010 has been a community liaison.
Using her own experience to guide her, Ms Sieracki is trained to help Mandurah residents diagnosed with breast cancer find relevant information and provide support.
“The information available to women diagnosed has improved so much since Bakers Delight first began working with BCNA 15 years ago,” she said.
“The support BCNA provides to Australians diagnosed with breast cancer simply wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing generosity of Bakers Delight and their customers.
“In many ways, the money raised is just the icing on the pink bun, so to speak.
“You simply can’t put a value on the feeling I get when I walk into Bakers Delight at Meadow Springs Shopping Centre and see it all pinked up during the Pink Bun campaign.
“I’m sure other breast cancer survivors feel the same.”
To date, Bakers Delight has donated $15 million to BCNA, which has gone to towards ensuring that Australians affected by breast cancer receive the best support, information, treatment and care appropriate to their individual needs.
Money raised by the Pink Bun campaign supports essential BCNA services, including the creation of the My Journey Kit, an information pack provided to people newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
More than 12,000 My Journey Kits are provided annually, and last year more than 84 per cent of newly diagnosed Australian women received a kit free of charge.
Mandurah’s Marie Martin said when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, Ms Sieracki was the first person she called for support.
“I wouldn’t have gotten through without Lee,” she said.
“She knew what to say and what information to give me and gave me support when it was all doom and gloom.
“The biggest help was pointing me in the direction of a small group of local women who were going through chemotherapy at the same time and still today, we’re really good friends.”
Ms Sieracki, who works at Singleton Primary School, also took the chance to have her own BCNA Pink Bun fundraiser with the school’s staff.
“It’s really easy; I just called up Bakers Delight to order the buns for the morning tea,” she said.
“Everyone just bought the buns and some even donated more.
“Imagine if every business had a morning tea – even if it’s just 30 people on staff – how much money would be raised.”