A sweet 16 is a special occasion for anyone, including the Cessnock Pink Ladies who recently celebrated the milestone event.
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The group of volunteers have been providing invaluable services to patients at Cessnock Hospital for the past 16 years and say that they have loved every minute of it.
Whether reading a newspaper, helping with laundry of through various fundraising initiatives, the group have managed to raise almost $30,000 since their inception in 1998.
The money has all been used to buy various equipment for the hospital as well as mattresses, furniture and computers.
For their birthday they celebrated with a special morning tea, with Cessnock Mayor Bob Pynsent congratulating them for their contribution.
“On behalf of the entire Cessnock community can I just say thankyou to you all for the work that you do,” he said.
“You deserve to be recognised not just her today, but throughout the whole community.
“This is undoubtedly a great cause and it is also very clear that there is a great social aspect for you as well, with some wonderful friendships formed over the years I’m sure.”
On the day, Pink Ladies coordinator Lin King-Adams also presented two cheques for $2,500 to representatives from Cessnock Hospital’s emergency department and operational theatre.
Clinical nurse Lee Bendeich accepted one of the cheques and said the contribution of the Pink Ladies to the hospital over the years has been exceptional.
“The generosity of these women over the years is just remarkable,” she said.
“I continuously ask if they can help us and they always do.
“They definitely work very hard and do so much for this hospital.”
Cessnock Hospital’s former director of nurses Alan Baird also attended the birthday celebrations and said that it was great to see the group still going to strong.
“When this all got off the ground in the ‘90s, I had seen the difference that the Pink Lady services were having in other hospitals at the time.
“The industry was doing through a difficult time and it really needed to have that aspect of community reinforced.
“We found these values in these Pink Ladies and they are just a true asset.
“And I know they have been just as valuable to each other as they have been to the Cessnock community.”
