Joe Naufahu’s Plea To Aucklanders – “Walk In Pink For Breast Cancer This Sunday”

Actor and Celebrity Treasure Island star Joe Naufahu is encouraging Aucklanders to take part in New Zealand’s first ever neighbourhood Pink Ribbon Walk on Sunday 31 October. It’s replacing Breast Cancer Foundation NZ’s iconic fundraiser, which has been cancelled due to the extended Covid-19 lockdown.

Ongoing Covid restrictions around the country have forced the cancellation of Breast Cancer Foundation NZ’s two major fundraisers this year – the Pink Ribbon Walks in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and the Pink Ribbon Street Appeal in Auckland. The charity expects to lose more than $500,000 in income as a result, and it’s now appealing to Aucklanders to walk in their own neighbourhoods instead, while joining thousands of walkers around the country virtually.

Joe Naufahu, whose mum Agnes was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer last year, said: “By doing a neighbourhood Pink Ribbon Walk, friends and family can show just how much they care for the women in their lives. By simply walking with each other, we’re showing how we can get through anything together. I’m proud to be involved with warming everyone up and I can’t wait to see everyone in their pink outfits!”

Joe competed for Breast Cancer Foundation NZ on this season of Celebrity Treasure Island, but eliminated himself after the first week. With his mum playing on his mind, Joe didn’t want to waste precious time away from her. He was keen to do more to support Kiwis affected by breast cancer since the cause is so close to his heart, so now he’s filming a warm-up exercise for participants taking part in the neighbourhood walks.

Ah-Leen Rayner, chief executive of Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, said: “As a charitable trust that receives no government funding, we rely entirely on the goodwill of New Zealanders to keep our life-saving work going. But the ongoing Covid restrictions are severely impacting our ability to fundraise. Every dollar we’ve lost to Covid is money we can’t spend on supporting patients in their time of need, cutting-edge research, and education programmes to stop deaths from breast cancer.

“We know this is devastating for our supporters, who volunteer or walk to honour the women they’ve lost, or to mark their own journey with breast cancer. However, we’re hoping Aucklanders will still get behind the cause by signing up for our neighbourhood walks, to help our efforts in the fight against breast cancer.”

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for New Zealand women under 65 and every year around 1,050 women are diagnosed with it in the greater Auckland region.

The neighbourhood Pink Ribbon Walk encourages people to fundraise by getting dressed up in pink and walk in their own communities. Participants will get the chance to warm up virtually with Joe Naufahu and win prizes via social media throughout the day from event sponsors Estee Lauder Companies, The Hits, SBS Bank and Pink Lady Apples. Sign up for a neighbourhood Pink Ribbon Walk at pinkribbonwalk.co.nz/virtual and follow @pinkribbonNZ on social media for all of the virtual action on the day.

Online donations to the Pink Ribbon Street Appeal can be made at pinkribbonappeal.co.nz.

Money raised from the neighbourhood Pink Ribbon Walks and Pink Ribbon Street Appeal and will go towards Breast Cancer Foundation’s work to support patients, fund ground-breaking scientific projects, and educate New Zealanders about the importance of early detection.

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