Starting out as a humble local coffee shop down Brisbane’s Eagle Street Pier, the now famous chain The Coffee Club hasn’t lost its sense of community by raising funds and awareness for cancer research.
With over 300 franchises throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and now the Middle East, The Coffee Club recently raised $180,000 at their inaugural 2014 telethon ball.
John Lazarou, public relations director of The Coffee Club, was an integral part of the event and says it’s thanks to his personal experience that he has seen how important fundraising is.
“My [business] partner Emmanuel Drivas’ daughter was being treated at the hospital because she had leukaemia and that opened my eyes to the fact that the hospital needs assistance in volunteers and of course fundraising,” Mr Lazarou told Neos Kosmos.
“My aim through our donations, which we donate to research, is hopefully to eradicate this horrible disease of leukaemia and cancer, which no child should endure.”
Sponsoring the Perth Children’s Telethon, similar to the Good Friday Appeal, which takes place in Melbourne over the Easter long weekend, Mr Lazarou saw the need for a similar fundraising event in Brisbane. After strong campaigns for many years, Channel Nine finally took the idea on board, hosting the first Children’s Hospital Telethon in Brisbane in over 20 years earlier this month.
The inaugural telethon took place in conjunction with The Coffee Club’s Telethon Ball at the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre. The Telethon came through with the goods, raising over $9.2 million.
The money raised will go to the new Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, set to be the largest children’s hospital and research precinct in the southern hemisphere.
The Coffee Club over the past 20 years has helped raise over $8 million for the Children’s Hospital in Brisbane through its biannual ball, in addition to various other fundraisers throughout the year.
“I consider myself a very lucky man; I’ve got four healthy children and now a healthy grandson,” said Mr Lazarou.
“No child needs to go through that sort of treatment. I just want to do anything I possibly can.”
