Our Shake It Up Heroes this week are students from the Year 11 Business Class from Hervey Bay State High School and their teacher Karen.

What Drives Your Commitment to find a cure for Parkinson’s?

One of my brothers has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and even though I’d heard of it I didn’t really know a lot about it. After reading more and discovering that it is not just a disease that affects the elderly, it also became clear that some great research is being done and also a lot more awareness needs to be created. As with most medical conditions, I think the impact doesn’t really strike you until you know someone that is affected by it and I, like many others want to see a cure for this.

Why Shake It Up Australia?

This organisation was one of the first I discovered when searching the internet for ways to assist and raise money for research. It had some very helpful ideas and a guide to follow to organise an event. Also, having grown up watching Michael J Fox and knowing of his diagnosis it was a bonus to see the connection with his foundation and that all funds donated go to research.

Tell us what you are doing to Shake Things Up?

I organised an event called Participate for Parkinson’s with my Yr 11 Business class from Hervey Bay State High School, in November 2014 as part of their unit of study, Workteams and Events Management. The event involved people registering to walk along a 4.6 km section of the Esplanade in Hervey Bay starting at the ESA Park, Point Vernon, to the Seafront Oval, Pialba where we had music students performing, our local Parkinson’s Support Group in attendance, along with a sausage sizzle, refreshments and henna tattooing.

Greatest Reward?

The biggest reward was seeing the class come together to support a cause they knew little about but was willing to plan an event when I explained why I wanted to raise funds for Parkinson’s Research. Also the generosity of local businesses for sponsoring the event as well having more people turn up than expected on the day, volunteers helping out or donating including a very generous local who donated $200 as she saw us walking by!

Best advice for people looking to Shake It Up?

If you are a little unsure or don’t think you can organise an event, think again! As my brother said to me when I was unsure how successful our event would be, “from little things, big things grow!” No matter how small your event or idea might be, every little bit of fundraising helps, give it a go, you might surprise yourself, I know I did!

Are you interested in becoming a Shake It Up Hero through your own fundraising initiative? Find out how you can get involved and help us shake things up for a cure!