Purple Power & Making a Difference

The #playinpurple weekend was a huge success!

As we mentioned last time, 1DC’s Emma Bodin organised a weekend at the Bullcreek Leeming Junior Football Club (BLJFC) to support Pankind’s wonderful #playinpurple round, which helps to raise both funds for, and public awareness of, pancreatic cancer.

BLJFC’s support of #playinpurple has been nothing but phenomenal right from the get-go

Emma’s on the committee of the BLJFC and ever since she first brought up the idea of supporting Pankind’s #playinpurple round, the club’s response has been nothing but phenomenal right from the start.

Even though there was a ton of last-minute organisation to be done, the BLJFC #playinpurple round ended up being a huge success, with hundreds of happy punters both on and off the field, and a whopping $10,775 raised for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

Emma promised herself that she would make a difference and she’s doing just that!

Such a great day was bittersweet for Emma. It comes as a poignant reminder that pancreatic cancer does not discriminate. The disease stole from her, her vivacious and beautiful mum only two and half years ago. Once Emma could see beyond her grief, she promised herself that she would help make a difference in the fight against this insidious disease, and she is doing just that! Perth Suburban Newspapers have also jumped in to help raise awareness by featuring a “Purple in Power” article about Emma and #playinpurple in the Herald.

And Emma’s not stopping there. Pankind has asked her to jump on board next year to try and get more AFL teams involved. While BLJFC was the first ever AFL club in both junior and senior ranks to join the #playinpurple cause, other sporting clubs also got involved this year including West Perth FC, Kingsley Westside FC and Perth Glory, who lost 36-year-old midfielder Liam Miller to pancreatic cancer. With Emma’s determination to help Pankind shine a light on the disease and increase engagement between clubs, players and the community, we can be sure to see more clubs and more people will be involved next year. In fact, with Emma on board, #playinpurple could very well become an annual fixture. Watch this space!