Most of PACK & SEND’s Service Centres are independently owned and operated by local business people. Giving back to our community and making a difference in the lives of others is an integral part of our business. Our franchisees regularly support a variety of local charitable and community-based organisations. Recently, PACK & SEND Liverpool has teamed up with #ACureForFreyja to organise the logistics for their charity auction hosted by MotoGP.
#ACureForFreyja
Freyja is a 5-year-old girl from Canberra suffering from an extremely rare type of cancer, which up until recently was thought to be incurable. This cancer is so rare that it took a whole team of International Specialists at the Sydney Children’s Hospital 5 months to identify. Freyja has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Cutaneous Clear Cell Sarcoma, formerly known as a type of melanoma, which is aggressive, difficult to catch early, prone to spreading, and has a high chance of relapse in the future. It only has a 5% survival rate, and there have only been 40 cases recorded worldwide.
Given that patients diagnosed with this type of cancer have not typically lived beyond 12 months from diagnosis, there might only be 4-5 months to save Freyja’s life.
Currently, Freyja is undergoing a new trial immunotherapy at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, which has slowed the disease and shrunk some of the tumours. International sarcoma experts have advised that her only option beyond the current trial is Proton Therapy and surgery which are only available in Germany and the US.
Freyja’s godmother, Lora, has started the fundraising campaign, #ACureForFreyja, to raise $500,000 to pay for her urgent treatment overseas. Freyja needs to be in Heidelberg, Germany for treatment in the next 5-11 weeks. She might not live to see this Christmas if she does not get the therapy she needs.
#ACureForFreyja has gained exposure and recognition worldwide, and celebrities like Gal Gadot of Wonder Woman and Bruce Hopkins from Bondi Rescue have demonstrated their support for Freyja.
At Freyja’s school in Canberra, the father of a girl close to Freyja and her sisters works directly with the Yamaha MotoGP team. He brought this fundraiser to the attention of the MotoGP community, which has in turn started an auction of their collectors’ items. Racing teams and stars have donated their personal items, including break pads, full leathers, helmet visors, and many more, to raise funds for Freyja’s medical treatment.
This caught the attention of Shannons, who then approached the family to help coordinate the auction. When Lora contacted other major courier companies to organise the delivery of auction items, she was either declined or left with unclear responses. Furthermore, given the high value of the auction items, these companies were reluctant to get involved. Shannons then suggested PACK & SEND.
PACK & SEND’s involvement
Sandeep, franchise owner of PACK & SEND Liverpool, found this to be a highly meaningful cause which PACK & SEND had the capacity to assist with. He quickly contacted Lora and not only offered to take on the responsibility of handling all logistics arrangements, but also offered shipping at reduced cost. There are a total of 102 items up for auction, including a very valuable handwritten letter from Valentino Rossi.
PACK & SEND has proven expertise in shipping valuable items internationally, and has extensive experience in dealing with Customs in different countries. Lora expressed her relief and gratitude to Sandeep, and appointed PACK & SEND Liverpool to be the sole handler of logistics for this worldwide auction. PACK & SEND Liverpool will be providing the full service of collecting auction items, individually packing them, contacting winning bidders, and arranging deliveries with freight plus warranty.
Going the extra mile
An incident occurred a few days ago, where Lizzie, Freyja’s mother, had urgent medical reports to be delivered to Germany and the Czech Republic. She was rejected by other major courier companies, some of which stated she needed to create an account with them in order to get anything done, or that they could not deliver the documents in 2 days. At this point, Lizzie was in the hospital with Freyja and could not leave, she was frantically trying to find a solution when she rang Sandeep at 3pm, explaining her predicament. Immediately, Sandeep managed to coordinate with PACK & SEND Bondi Junction, who collected the medical reports from the hospital nearby, and within a few hours, these reports were on a 6.30pm flight to Europe. Lizzie was incredibly relived that PACK & SEND managed to deliver the urgent reports in time, when other companies told her it was impossible. PACK & SEND prides itself in exactly this – providing a personable experience to our customers, and thinking outside the box to find solutions, no matter what the problem might be.
What you can do
The MotoGP Auction ends on 16 August 2017. To grab yourself some collectors’ items and raise funds for Freyja, visit https://www.shannons.com.au/auctions/a-cure-for-freyja-motogp-fundraising-online-auction/. 100% of the proceeds will go to saving Freyja’s life by flying her to Germany for specialised medical treatment.
There is an upcoming fundraising event on 19 August at the Canberra Irish Club at 7:00pm. Grab your tickets here: https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?embed&eid=300410.
If you’d like to host a fundraising event, please contact admin@acureforfreyja.com.
To find out more and to donate, please visit https://www.acureforfreyja.com/donate.