Team Baden Raises $30,000 for Kiwi Cancer Patients

Senior Foodstuffs executive Baden Ngan Kee’s mission to help New Zealand’s lung cancer patients received a significant financial boost last month, with his team adding $10,000 from the John West 12km Traverse to their fundraising total.

In what proved to be a special day for Baden and his supporters, the sold-out event at the Auckland Marathon saw a number of participants decked out in Team Baden shirts as they ran to support his and the Lung Foundation’s cause.

Along with the $10,000 Baden was able to present to the Lung Foundation on the day, another $2,300 was raised by the Pak’n Save Westgate team.

Those funds bring the total amount raised by Baden, his industry peers and his friends to more than $30,000 over the past 12 months.

All of those funds will now go towards the Lung Foundation’s lobbying for improved access to potentially life-saving drugs for Kiwi lung cancer patients – an issue father-of-three Baden has been campaigning for since his own terminal lung cancer diagnosis two years ago.

Baden has been working hard to change the public’s perception of the disease as being one that only affects smokers and to highlight the current inequalities that exist in funding for New Zealand’s lung cancer patients.

“I strongly believe easier access to effective drugs will change other cancer patients’ lives, so I’m doing all that I can to help the Lung Foundation with their lobbying around this issue,” Baden says.

“I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who supported Team Baden at the John West 12km Traverse this year. It was a fantastic event and every dollar raised will be put to good use in this ongoing battle for Kiwi lung cancer patients.”

Lung Foundation chief executive Philip Hope says he’s full of admiration for what Team Baden has achieved.

“We really appreciate all the hard work Baden and his team have done with their fundraising and raising awareness of the issues lung cancer patients face with their treatment,” he says.

“Despite the fact lung cancer is the country’s biggest cancer killer, inequalities in drug funding still exist. We’re working hard each day to address that and receiving funds like those raised by Team Baden go a long way in helping our cause.”

ENDS

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