Collecting cans for cancer

In a final fundraising effort, the two friends from Cobb Haven Lifestyle Village have raised yet another $5700 for the cancer centre — officially bringing the total up to a phenomenal amount of $30,000 during a five-year period.

No easy feat — the duo would often have to wait in a line for up to 12 hours before being able to deposit the cans and collect the cash back in Moama.

Despite being an incredibly time-consuming task, Mr Walker said it was all worth it when you finally got to witness the fruits of your labour.

He said he had always made devoting his time to worthy causes a priority.

“I was with the fire brigade for 50 years. I’ve always been a community aligned person that has wanted to give back to the community,” Mr Walker said.

“Some people are just like that, it’s in their nature to want to help and that’s definitely the case for me.”

The duo used to collect the money from the cans and allocate it towards the community at Cobb Haven for social events and meal nights, but then decided that the money could be used to establish Echuca’s first cancer centre.

Mr Meulenkamp said that a big motivator for them was that they had both been diagnosed with cancer in the past.

“We’re just happy that the money went towards something that had a personal impact to our own lives,” Mr Meulenkamp said.

In what could only be described as an act of true kindness, Mr Walker said they never actually realised how much they had contributed to the centre.

“It’s only once you step back and count it all up that you really go wow,” he said.

The pair said they could not have achieved these results without the help of the Cobb Haven community who actively saved all of their cans up for depositing.

Sadly, this will be the last of the friends fundraising efforts together, as Mr Walker has now moved away to Wangaratta to be closer to his family.

As to whether someone will take over from them in future, nobody has yet put their hand up.