Carrie Bickmore has broken down in tears on Monday night as The Project host announced her charity, Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer, has raised more than $1 million for researchers.
The charity has raised $1.1 million, less than a year after Carrie launched the foundation in memory of her late husband.
Her voice trembled as a picture of her late husband Greg Lange, who lost his battle with brain cancer in 2010, flashed up on a screen, and she teared up at the desk as she thanked Aussies everywhere for their support.
“The image we’re about to see now — that is of my late husband, Greg. And he is the reason that I did this all, and I want to say to anybody who is suffering from brain cancer right now, we will use this money, and we will use it to try and make your future brighter, so that is what I promise you we’ll do.”
The 35-year-old launched the project, which raises money for brain cancer research, during her 2015 Gold Logie acceptance speech, and in just over a year she’s exceeded her target.
“We had Brain Beats concert, which was a great success. The last few months, we’ve been selling beanies — I completely underestimated how many people would want the beanies and I under-ordered, so I’m so sorry if you didn’t get a beanie — next time we’ll order three times as many,” she said. “Because of your generosity, we have already reached our million dollars — $1.1 million. So, thank you, thank you, thank you. I am just so blown away about that.”
“To each and every one of you who have bought a beanie, seeing all the pics coming up on social media, families and babies and kids and, you know, I don’t know any of you, but I feel like I know you all,” she added.
Panellist Peter Helliar said his colleague has worked tirelessly to achieve what she set out to.
“What people should know about what Carrie has done is how hands-on you have been,” he said. “I sit next to you in our office, and you didn’t just pass it off to another team to do it. I’ve heard you have discussions with your web guy, customs, truckies, people packing the orders, manufacturers.”
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