Meet the people that help make the night possible.

Around 20 years ago I was diagnosed with a Basal Cell Carcinoma and was advised by the surgeon that if it wasn’t removed I would die. Back then Cancer was not as common as it is today and I fought my own internal battle.

Nine years ago I found a number of lumps in my neck and after lengthy investigations I started treatment and am now in remission. The Cancer Council’s help line offered support, information and much guidance to help me understand what to expect from my treatment, recovery and also to help family and friends deal with what I was going through.

The advances I have seen in medicine, treatment, help and guidance is amazing. This, coupled with the many lives I have seen affected by this dreadful disease, are amongst the reasons why I lead this team of wonderful women to support such a deserving organisation, Cancer Council SA.

I’m currently employed at SA Health. I joined the Cancer Council Committee in 2008 to help organise and deliver an exciting event for the purpose of raising funds for the Cancer Council. Within weeks of joining the committee, I experienced the urgent need to support and maintain ongoing funds for this incredible organisation.

My daughter had given birth to her first child. Two months following the birth she was diagnosed with a rare and life threatening blood disorder. A 1 in 1.48 million chance of developing this disorder after child birth. Her initial treatment failed to deliver results leaving her with devastating side effects and her condition worsening. She was administered another medication which offered no improvement. Finally she was given a course of Chemo. It was a newly developed drug for patients suffering Leukemia and Non Lymphatic Hodgkin’s disease. This treatment was wonderful. She endured minimal and at times, no side effects at all. She was improving weekly. It is now 12 months since her treatment and results show normal and she has stablilised.

What did I learn from this experience? I learnt that the Cancer Council is bigger than cancer. It offers hope to people like my daughter diagnosed with a life threatening disease.

Julie Cowell is the newest member of the Cancer Council SA’s Glitz & Hammer Ball organising committee.

She has broad experience in events coordination and fundraising, having worked in the field of corporate hospitality for a not-for-profit organisation for six years .

Julie’s initial involvement with the Glitz & Hammer Ball was as a sponsor at the 2010 function. “The work of Cancer Council SA has touched many of my relatives and friends who have battled with cancer,” Ms Cowell said.

“As a guest at last year’s event, I was so impressed by the work of the committee that I felt motivated to contribute to the cause at a greater level.”

My eagerness to be involved with the Glitz & Hammer Ball team came through a need to do something, be of help somehow – to those you suffer with this awful disease.

Witnessing the heartache as friends and colleagues go through life challenging and changing experiences and exposure with cancer; I wanted to contribute to help enable research to continue in the hope that one day we may be able to solve this global health challenge.

It’s difficult to find anyone that hasn’t been affected by cancer, either personally, or through family and friends. I am no different, but when my closest and dearest friend was diagnosed with lung cancer after months of ‘not feeling quite herself’ I truly realised the extent of the devastation this disease causes.

I was angry – how can they not know how to fix this by now? I felt totally helpless watching my friend and her family go through such a terrible ordeal. Sadly, there was no treatment that could help my dear friend and she lost her fight with an extremely aggressive and persistent cancer within 9 months of being diagnosed.

Since then, I’ve felt a strong need to do something, anything – I toyed with ways to raise funds for cancer research like running the length of the great wall, sailing single handed around Cape Horn, or something just as dramatic (for those who know me – obviously never going to happen!). So when Christine, who I met through my dear friend, told me about the Glitz & Hammer Ball I was very excited to get involved – a much safer option! What better way to donate my time to something that is interesting and fun, but most importantly will raise awareness and funds for an organisation that leads the fight against cancer.

I keep hearing how fantastic the ball was last year, so I am really looking forward to helping make it even better this year.

I lost my Mother at the age of 45 to breast cancer. At the time I was in my early twenties and had been married for just six months. Losing a loved one to cancer at any age is heart breaking but 45 was just too young. Sadly my mother never lived to see any of her grandchildren (I am the eldest of four), which is something in life she was looking forward to.

In becoming a member of the 2010 Glitz & Hammer Ball committee, I look forward to helping to organise this exciting, gala event and raising funds for the Cancer Council SA so that their vital work in research, prevention, early detection, education and support can continue. Hopefully, one day we can see a cure so that no child grows up without a parent or grandparent.