Recently I had the privilege of becoming the first supporter to sign up to Kelly Foran's Friendly Faces' fundraising campaign.
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Kelly, who lives in Maules Creek, has faced many adversities in her life.
In 2002 she was diagnosed with a brain tumour, two weeks before giving birth to her first child.
Her son was born with a hole in the lung, hyper insulin anemia and jaundice.
The following year he was diagnosed with an eye tumour.
Kelly and her family spent the next few years negotiating through a web of hospitals, medical treatments and outcomes - both good and bad.
From her myriad of experiences Kelly formed the Friendly Faces Helping Hands Foundation which is a non-profit organisation that helps people navigate the health system and everything associated with travelling to a major city for treatment.
The foundation's website site links rural and remote people and communities and provides a central portal for accessing information on accommodation, parking, cheap eats, supermarkets and even hairdressers that are located around each metropolitan hospital.
Links are also available for support networks, social workers and counsellors.
Over the past four years Kelly's foundation has assisted around 50,000 people and their families.
During a recent visit to my electorate the federal Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Fiona Nash, and I met with Kelly to receive an update on her foundation and become the first supporters of the Friendly Faces' fundraising campaign.
Kelly hopes to sign 700 friendly faces to her campaign who will commit to donating just $10 a month to support the work of the foundation.
This will ensure the people in our region can access 24 hour support to help them in times of trauma to work through the many challenges of trying to access healthcare outside our communities.
For more information about this wonderful initiative and to read more about a very inspirational woman visit www.friendlyfaces.info
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