General News
26 April, 2022
Leisha cuts it off for cancer research
Dimboola resident Leisha Schoer lays it all out there for cancer research.
DIMBOOLA resident Leisha Schoer is celebrating her 55th birthday by taking to the clippers for cancer.
Ms Schoer’s Country Women’s Care fundraiser had her shaving off her hair in front of Horsham Plaza centre visitors on April 22 to help raise cancer awareness and collect donations for cancer research.
Ms Schoer said the idea for the fundraiser was something she had thought about for some time.
“I’d been thinking about shaving my hair off for a couple of years,” she said.
“I lost my husband close to eight years ago to cancer and I lost a good friend to cancer just a couple of weeks ago.
“It was coming up to my birthday this year when I thought, ‘I don’t know what to do with my hair, so I’ll just chop it off and raise some money for cancer research’.”
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After her husband passed away Ms Schoer moved from Melbourne to support her parents in Dimboola and has remained in the area, having grown a liking to the town.
As West Wimmera Country Women’s Association president, Ms Schoer said she spends a lot of her time helping out the group.
“‘Country Women Care’ was a bit of a toss on the Country Women Association name,” she said.
“We’re actually the biggest women advocacy group in Victoria.
“A lot of people see us as just ‘scones, jam and cream’, but we’re a lot more than that … We do a lot of stuff that people aren’t aware of, like flood relief.”
Horsham Plaza centre manager Allison Roberts, who emceed for the event, said she was delighted to have hosted Ms Schoer’s big moment.
“It was great Leisha chose Horsham Plaza to have her shave for cancer,” she said.
“Because it was school holidays, there were quite a lot of people around so Leisha’s shave was a great way of getting the word out there of cancer awareness.
“It was great to support a cause that touches most people.”
Ms Schoer said she already has special plans for her hair as it will help provide material for an ongoing project.
“I’m going to needle my hair,” she said.
“I’ve nearly finished this cool-looking spider which I hope to get my son-in-law with when he comes home.”
Anyone who is interested in donating to the ‘Country Women Care’ fundraiser can visit Leisha Schoer’s Cancer Council Victoria page.