Waxing to fight cancer

Joel Semmler, bartender at the Tanunda Hotel, Tanunda, has well and truly hit his target of $1,000 in fundraising after being nominated by his coworkers for the U.G.L.Y. Bartender Of The Year competition that raises money for the Leukaemia Foundation’s ‘Home-Away-From-Home’ service.

Joel held an event at the Tanunda Hotel on Sunday to raise extra money for the foundation. He ended up doubling his target and raised $2,130.

At the fundraiser, Joel ended up waxing his legs, shaving his beard, and losing his curly locks all as incentives for people to donate.

The U.G.L.Y (Understanding Generous Likeable You) Bartender of the Year is a hospitality industry fundraising competition by the Leukaemia Foundation to raise money for people with blood cancer.

The funds will be going towards helping people with blood cancer relocate to receive cancer treatment. This includes paying for accommodation. 

Joel said his main goal initially was raising enough to allow a week’s accommodation for a family but changed it to a fortnight’s accommodation when he reached $1,000.

“It was a bit of a novelty thing at the start [when nominated], but when I read more into it and saw it was for a good cause, I started to get right into it,” said Joel.

“It gives you that happiness that you are helping someone out in need. Especially since it’s always hard because there is so much treatment and the travel is so hard for the families. To be able to do something like this, it gives you that feeling of accomplishment.

For the full story see this week’s edition of The Leader