The Lions Club of Kiama Inc. Cancer Care Trust received a $10,000 boost from Tour de Cure this week.

The cheque was presented during a heartfelt community dinner hosted at the Kiama Leagues Club.

The donation formed part of the Tour’s Woolworths Wheels and Walks fundraising campaign and recognised the Lions’ quiet but powerful work supporting locals affected by cancer.

Accepting the cheque on behalf of the Trust were chair Gerry McInerney, current Lions Club president Cheryl Moses and Ian Chellew.

McInerney, who has chaired the trust for more than 30 years, told guests how the fund began in the early 1990s as a way to honour Lions members and their partners who had died from cancer.

“We thought $20,000 would be enough,” he said. “We ran a telethon from the CBC (NAB) bank, calling every number in the district and raised it. Then we just kept going.”

The trust has now grown to nearly $300,000.

Support continues to flow from funeral donations, local art auctions, and Bunnings sausage sizzles.

“We only spend the interest and dividends,” McInerney said. “But what we do spend makes a difference. We help pay for medication, travel, or even respite holidays during treatment. We can’t cure cancer, but we can ease the load.”

Tour de Cure’s Woolworths team rolled into Kiama with more than 100 riders, support staff and volunteers.

All were taking part in a multi-day ride across the region to raise funds and awareness. Since launching in 2014, Woolies Wheels and Walks has raised over $7.7 million and helped fund 18 cancer research breakthroughs.

Half of the funds raised go directly to PanKind, Australia’s pancreatic cancer foundation.

“When we started, the survival rate for pancreatic cancer was just 4 percent,” said one of the event speakers. “It is now 12 per cent. Still far too low, but proof that our efforts are helping.”

Kiama’s dinner reflected the powerful blend of humour, humility and shared humanity that defines the tour.

Guests laughed at jokes about calf muscles and Star Wars references. This year’s event coincided with May the Fourth. Applause broke out for those who had ridden since the very first event.

First-time riders and navigators shared their stories in a moving panel discussion. Some rode for family members lost too soon.

Others were driven by recent cancer diagnoses among friends. “I was terrified,” said one first-time rider. “But this group, it’s the most welcoming, encouraging team I’ve ever met.”

Many support crew members also had deep personal motivations.

One volunteer spoke about a close friend who endured four separate cancer battles before passing away last Easter. “Nothing satisfies me more than doing something that might help find a cure,” she said.

The “Tour bubble”, as returning riders call it, is where senior executives and frontline workers ride side by side.

Titles are left behind. “Everyone is equal on the road,” one rider said. “You ride beside someone for three days and go home changed.” The dinner closed with a moment of reflection.

It was a reminder that cancer research is not the only legacy being built.

For the Lions Club of Kiama and for Tour de Cure, the goal is just as much about community as it is about a cure.