In a triumph of community spirit, a group of Western Sydney-raised friends have banded together to raise over $80,000 all in the name of curing Brain Cancer, an insidious disease that is the most fatal cancer for people under 40.
The group – Massimo Baroni, Domenic Trimboli, Elizabeth Salvagio, Niki Trimboli, Ross Trimboli, Anthony Trimboli, Mikky Baroni, Jessica Baroni and Nastassia Baroni – initially set what they thought was an ambitious fundraising target of $30,000 for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, a goal that was very quickly surpassed and has now almost tripled.
What started as an idea thrown around over some beers at Rozelle’s Red Lion pub has quickly evolved into a mass community fundraising effort involving generous donations from local businesses, family and friends, fellow community members and even a trivia fundraising night attended by over 200 people.
The event – aptly named the “F&ck Brain Cancer Trivia Night” – was held the past weekend at the Wetherill Park Community Centre and was by all accounts a resounding success, with thousands of dollars raised through ticket sales, a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses and a few sly revenue-raising trivia policing tactics such as on-the-spot fines for unsanctioned phone usage.
“Brain cancer is one of those things that touches the lives of more people than you think,” say the event organisers. “Even in the process of organising this event we encountered multiple vendors who had either battled the disease itself or had lost loved ones to it. The ripple effect it has is astounding. To play even a small role in changing this through something as fun as a trivia night was so empowering. You could really feel the love and support in the room, even when players were battling it out over a flash round game of “Horse or Adult Film”.
The cause has a particularly personal meaning to this group. In 2019, at 21 years of age, one of the group’s members Massimo was diagnosed with Stage IV Brain Cancer. Three years and one global pandemic on, after a courageous and challenging battle, Massimo is now cancer-free and stronger than he has ever been.
That, however, is not the same story for many Australian families. Around 1,700 people are diagnosed with brain cancer in Australia every year and approximately 1,200 die from the disease annually. Brain cancer also kills more children in Australia than any other disease and sadly these stats have hardly changed in the last 30 years despite significant advances in survival rates for other cancers in that same time.
It’s these statistics as well as Massimo’s inspiring journey that has propelled the group’s efforts to change that narrative by raising funds for much-needed treatments and research and their community have joined them in that fight.
“We are so incredibly humbled by the support we have been shown through this process,” they say. “People from all parts of our community have donated their money, their products, their time and efforts. It really shows that community spirit and generosity is alive and well and proves that when you join forces, anything is possible.”
While they have well and truly surpassed their initial fundraising goal, their efforts are far from over. In October this year, four of the group will be embarking on a three-day hike in Tasmania as part of the Trek4BrainCancer campaign and the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.
Donations towards that trek are still very much welcomed via their fundraising page, with assurances that every cent will go towards increasing the Brain Cancer survival rate and giving hope to thousands of Australians and their families currently fighting the disease.
For more information or to get in contact with the group please reach out to Nastassia Baroni at nastassia.baroni@gmail.com.
To find out more about the work of the Cure Brain Cancer foundation, head here:
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