Think Pink Living Centre spoils the community with fun-filled days of indulgence

After having to close its doors to the community for too long, the Think Pink Foundation’s Living Centre successfully held three fundraising events for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. 

The events were led by Nutrimetics specialist and Living Centre volunteer of 12 years, Lucia Cardamone, who took participants through personalised makeup classes. 

Three sessions were offered during the month of October, with the last one taking place on Thursday, October 27, from 1pm until 3pm. 

“[The fundraiser] has been great and everyone had fun and learnt and tried different things they ordinarily wouldn’t do,” Ms Cardamone told Docklands News. 

“They were guided through the class and our [Nutrimetics] consultants helped them make the right choices based on their eye shape, brow shape, and skin colour, so it was very personalised.”

While everyone in attendance was able to go away with specialised and tailored knowledge on how to apply their own makeup, the sessions also offered a chance for them to give back and help the centre with a $50 entry donation. 

The Living Centre is a free-of-charge centre for people journeying through breast cancer, and it exists solely to support patients, and their families and carers, in seeking professional and caring holistic support at any stage of their journey with breast cancer.

While the centre has on-hand support facilities, such as a nurse and a counselling room, it does also offer services that allow for clients to come together and indulge in fun activities. 

One of the more popular activities are Ms Cardamone’s makeup sessions, as she strives to “give back in a way that [she] can make a difference”.

Offered free to clients of Think Pink, the “days of indulgence”, which started in-person before COVID saw them move online, helps clients with navigating the “confronting” changes their skin and body go through as a result of treatment. 

“I cover all sorts of things they may start to experience through their treatment that will impact their application, [for example] I help them with applying their makeup when they have had complete hair loss and teach them how to apply their eye makeup and eyebrows,” Ms Cardamone said. 

Among the group of women in attendance who couldn’t wait to be a part of the fundraiser was Joan Hammond, who became a Think Pink Living Centre client upon being diagnosed with breast cancer just prior to the beginning of the pandemic. 

“The sessions were great, and I looked a million dollars compared to how I looked when I walked in,” Ms Hammond said with a laugh. 

“I have been in the sessions on Zoom with Lucia, but this was good because it was a donation towards a centre that helps and really keeps everyone [diagnosed with breast cancer] going.”

Believing in the mission of the centre and its ability to help clients not feel alone during their journey, Ms Hammond regularly attends a multitude of sessions offered at the centre and is part of running the book club. 

And while she can’t help but boast about the wonderful sessions on offer, she also reflected on the genuine support the clients receive at the centre from the Breast Care Nurse Consultant and Manager Andrea Cannon.

As the onsite nurse within the facility, Ms Cannon walks through the breast cancer journey with all the clients that come to the centre for support. 

She has also seen how treatment can often make people feel “vulnerable and fragile”, and how the makeup sessions can give them the psychological boost they may need. 

Being able to share the work of the centre through this fundraiser has been a long time coming, but its success has been rewarding. 

“We thought this was an ideal opportunity for the general public and community to be able to attend and do something and do it as a fundraiser within the Living Centre,” Ms Cannon said. 

“We had a variety of ages, and for people who have been a Think Pink client or volunteer they were able to come and bring their family, friends and the general community with them for this really great fundraising opportunity.”

“We had great numbers in attendance and the place was alive due to everyone not being together for such a long time.”

For people who missed out on the fundraising event and are looking ahead at other ways they can help support the centre, Think Pink Living Centre has also been creating some wonderful merchandise, from fresh new aprons to the perfect summer fan, just in time for Christmas. •

For more information: thinkpink.org.au/merchandise-online-shop

Caption: Nutrimetic consultants Helen and Lil, Nutrimetics specialist and Living Centre volunteer Lucia Cardamone, and Living Centre Breast Care Nurse Consultant and Manager Andrea Cannon.

Photo: Murray Enders