Emmaus St Leo’s has changed direction with this year’s Annual Ladies Day Luncheon on Mother’s Day weekend, instead opting to host a Ladies High Tea aimed at celebrating the women within their Club and raising funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
The inspiration behind the change is Cathy Davis; a beloved figure at the Club who tragically lost her battle with breast cancer in January last year.
Wife to Club doctor, Glen, mother to current player and committee member, Michael, and future Animals, Harry and Sam, the loss of Cathy was felt by all from within the Emmaus fraternity.
Speaking with VAFA Media, Michael said the football club acted as a great support network for him and his family following the loss of Cathy and the High Tea bodes as a great chance to recognise their efforts.
“Footy Clubs are like an extended family and it was a great outlet for me to be around the footy boys last year,” he said.
“They provided a great support network for me and my family and I guess this High Tea will help acknowledge the work they’ve done.
“The whole reason is to try and find a cure but also to support families going through this and raise awareness to get checked regularly.”
Emmaus co-captain, Jon Kapiniaris, said the Ladies High Tea has been inspired by Cathy and the entire Davis family and hopes the initiative can make a real difference.
“The passing of Cathy had a deep impact throughout the whole club to see someone taken too early from such an amazing family,” he said.
“We hope to make it a huge success and contribute a significant amount of money to ‘Team Cathy’ to aid future research into Breast Cancer.”
‘Team Cathy’ will run in the Mother’s Day Classic this Sunday and donate all funds raised to vital research projects aimed at the prevention and cure of breast cancer.
In conjunction with their High Tea event, the Animals’ playing list will put aside their light and dark blue guernseys in place of pink alternatives against St John’s OC this weekend in a bid to further promote this great cause.
The support for the Ladies High Tea has been phenomenal and all tickets have been sold.