This year,  Shake It Up welcomed new corporate sponsors who are supporting Parkinson’s Awareness Month in April to raise community awareness and funds for research. We spoke to Trisco Foods about what inspired their commitment to supporting this cause and how they are making a difference for Parkinson’s research within their organisation.

Trisco Foods is an Australian family owned business managed by the Tristram family who have been manufacturing food and beverage products for over five generations in Queensland, dating back to 1875.

How are you supporting Parkinson’s Awareness Month in April?

As well as being a Bronze Sponsor for this year’s campaign, Trisco Foods are spreading the word about the activities and messaging from Shake It Up with our audiences, to raise awareness of the importance of Parkinson’s research.

To give back to the Shake It Up community and encourage participation in fundraising, we’ve donated 3 prize packs for fundraisers to win of a year’s worth of maple syrup!

Suzi Dubois, Head of Sales APAC | Healthcare and Nutrition Division at Trisco, participated in a live weather cross with the Weekend Today Show, raising national awareness of Parkinson’s research and this year’s #Pancakes4Parkinsons initiative. It was an early, fun-filled morning full of pancake flipping, a lot of pancake eating both competitively and leisurely as well as meeting dedicated Parkinson’s advocates.

Why is it important for your business to support a cause like this one?

Both of our business channels at Trisco Foods align perfectly with the Parkinson’s Awareness Month campaign and this year’s Pancakes 4 Parkinson’s theme – we make syrups and sauces, like maple syrup, AND dysphagia products.  Dysphagia is a difficulty with swallowing, something that unfortunately occurs with Parkinson’s disease.  Daily our team is working alongside individuals that have Parkinson’s and teams that support those with Parkinson’s.  We love making a difference to help improve the lives of those who need support with their swallowing, and we are invested in finding a cure to Parkinson’s disease.

Shake It Up wouldn’t be where it is today without our very generous supporters, and we have been fortunate to have the corporate community behind us on our journey.