Recognition for Ruth

Last year Ruth Edelsten received a CIKA Champions award in recognition of the enormous contribution that she has made during her long association with the organisation.  After years of fundraising, we were eventually fortunate enough to have her join the CIKA committee some ten years ago.  Ruth, who lives in Bendigo, is a tireless worker and a great organiser.  She has a huge range of friends and acquaintances who assist her in her fabulous fundraising activities.

Notable among the events that she has organised or in which she has had a significant involvement are:
four annual fund-raising bike rides around western and central Victoria and across the border into South Australia; formal luncheons at Bendigo stadium that have included fashion parades and guest speakers;
annual Bendigo Cup luncheons;
a Mothers’ Day art show, with beautiful works of art on display;
“Buy Swap and Sell Bendigo”, through which Ruth sells an enormous range of items;
regular monthly market stalls at various venues in Bendigo, Kangaroo Flat, Trentham and Woodend.  She is helped on these stalls by three of her friends, while others provide storage for the goods that she procures for sale.

Ruth has the ability to engage with her community and enlist members of her wide friendship group as CIKA supporters.  In 2017 she brought the Bendigo Posties on board as fund raisers for CIKA and has been engaged with them ever since.  Their monthly raffles have raised a considerable amount of money enabling them to present CIKA with a generous cheque at the end of each year.

She has also enlisted a group of knitters who produce goods for her stalls, and others who make professional signs for her events.  Her community involvement also enables her to call for any other support that she needs in her fundraising efforts.  She also has the ongoing support of her husband John.

As if all of this is not enough, prior to Covid Ruth assisted at CIKA’s monthly stalls at the RCH in Melbourne.

Ruth is a fine example of an auxiliary member; she walks quietly on this earth, is not noisy about the fundraising she undertakes and is an absolute joy to work with.  Words cannot express our gratitude to Ruth who enriches the lives of everyone with whom she comes into contact.  We are indeed fortunate to have her on our team.

Here are Ruth’s own words to describe her involvement with CIKA.
Being a member of CIKA is probably one of the best things that I have done in my life.  I have been blessed to have two healthy daughters and, after spending time at the RCH and with friends whose children have cancer, you can only imagine the heartache it brings the families.  Raising money for CIKA to help find a cure for cancer has been extremely rewarding and I am grateful to have had this opportunity to help the kids in need.