Our hero this week is Liz McMillan who hosted a fundraiser “Pimms and a Punch for Parkinson’s”.   Liz was amazed at the generosity of people and their willingness to be involved.

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

Like many, I have a friend who has early onset Parkinson’s. She is now in her late 50’s and her treatment options are narrowing. It’s frustrating to see her suffer when I feel it’s within our society’s capability to find the answers.

Why Shake It Up Australia?

Again, like many, I think it’s great how 100% of the donated money goes straight to the source of finding a cure and ways to prevent this disease. Also, it was easy to set up a fundraising event and, Melanie, from Shake It Up, was close at hand to assist with advice, help and suggestions when needed.

Tell us what you are doing to Shake Things Up?

I have created a Gofundraise page to raise funds generally and linked this in with a private event held at my home early November entitled “ Pimms and a Punch for Parkinson’s!”. This included a variety of silent auction items, hand-made gifts for sale, live music, finger food to share and, of course, Pimms and punch – everything was donated by generous friends and neighbours.

Greatest Reward?

For me the greatest reward was seeing that the ‘community spirit’ is alive and well! I was amazed at the generosity of people and their willingness to be involved. It was also an opportunity to connect to the neighbourhood, catch up on old friends and new and bring awareness to the cause.

Best advice for people looking to Shake It Up?

If you have that feeling inside that you want to help but don’t know what to do (as I did) – just follow the simple steps with Shake it Up and before you know it you’ll be on your way to fulfilling that feeling and making a difference to, not just those with Parkinson’s, but to all the family and friends affected by this disease. Go for it!