Together we’ve built a home to help save kids with cancer

Heart-warming doesn’t begin to describe the moment that our home for Children’s Cancer Institute was completed and revealed for the first time to families facing childhood cancer.

What was originally the dream of three big leaders, Bill McDonald from McDonald Jones Homes, David Fitzharris from Austral Bricks and Rob Wearn from Wearn Brothers Group, has now become a reality thanks to backing by the local council and community, and 21 days of hard work, long hours and a united commitment from a determined team.

The Havana One home is complete with landscaping and furnishings provided by Freedom, Electrolux and Panasonic, and is something that any homeowner would be lucky and proud to own.

Founder and Director of McDonald Jones, Bill McDonald, couldn’t be happier with the results and believes that the future owner of the Build for a Cure house will receive more than just a place to live – they will be the proud owner of a home with an incredible soul.

“Build for a Cure is a dream we had that we took to our suppliers. We didn’t have to coerce them. They said ‘yes’. The whole spirit of Build for a Cure has been about people saying ‘yes’, about people seeing the bigger picture and wanting to do their bit to make a difference and to ensure Children’s Cancer Institute achieves their dream of a world free of childhood cancer,” Bill said.

It was this unfaltering attitude that made this project possible and fused together more than 100 tradespeople, a lot of whom volunteered their own time and forwent paid work on other jobs to lend a hand.

Carpenter Grant Cox, who was one of the ten carpenters that worked on putting the frame and trusses up on day 1 and 2, was one of the people that instantly put his hand up to assist. Grant’s reasons were personal; his mum is a breast cancer survivor and his daughter’s best friend was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, sadly passing away from the disease.

“It was unbelievable, it was a pleasure – no scrap that, it was an honour to be involved. If I was asked to do it again next year, I’d be there in a shot. Anything I can do to help save one life, I’m there,” Grant said.

Despite the progress medical research has made into finding a cure to the disease, cancer still takes the lives of nearly three children in Australia every week. Children’s Cancer Institute believe that a cure to childhood cancer is within reach in the foreseeable future and the money raised through Build for a Cure will make a significant contribution to help drive that discovery.

With the building portion of the project completed, we will now begin our search for the lucky new homeowner who will receive a home with a heart and the bragging rights to match.

We are opening the doors to the Build for a Cure home and inviting you to attend one of our open days held by PRDnationwide Penrith, to see for yourselves what this stunning new home could give your family and how it could complement your lifestyle. Following the open days we will hold an auction for the home on Sunday 26 October, 2014.