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- Owen's Story: One Sweet Idea
Owen's Story: One Sweet Idea
At the Pakenham Cricket Club, Pink Ladies Day has become about more than cricket.
Alongside the pink shirts and fundraising, you'll find 11-year-old Owen selling bright pink lolly bags, carefully packed by hand. Over the past three years, Owen has raised almost $4,000 for the McGrath Foundation, including $2,000 in 2026 alone.
It all started with a Christmas present.
When Owen was eight years old, he was given the book Barefoot Kids. As he worked his way through the book over the Christmas holidays, one idea stood out – taking three jam jars and labelling them Splurge, Save and Give.
At the same time, Owen was watching the Pink Test as Australia played Pakistan. Seeing the stories of the care provided by McGrath Cancer Care Nurses inspired him to use his 'give' jar to donate to the McGrath Foundation.
To do that, he first needed to put money in the jar. So he came up with an idea.
"Pakenham Cricket Club have a day for ladies and I want to be able to contribute to the event," Owen says.
"Throwing up ideas of what kids would like, first I wanted to sell pink Zooper Doopers and pink soft drink at cricket. After talking this through with Mum and Dad, we decided that this might be tricky and that maybe a pink lolly bag was a better option that kids would want to buy. So we looked at pink lollies and chose the ones I thought would look good in a lolly bag."
What started as one simple idea has become a much-loved tradition.
Each year, Owen sells his pink lolly bags at the Pakenham Cricket Club's Pink Ladies Day, with support from his teammates, family and the wider community.
Friends, family and members of the Pakenham Cricket Club community helped raise money through a GoFundMe campaign to purchase the lollies, allowing Owen to maximise his donation to the McGrath Foundation. Local businesses supported his fundraising by selling the lolly bags, while the Pakenham Cricket Club President helped promote and sell them at the club and on social media.
For Owen, the best part has been sharing it with others.
"All my Pakenham Cricket Club teammates and friends coming to the Pink Ladies Day to help sell the bags and my family supporting me. It’s become something fun we now do when the Pink Ladies Day is on at Pakenham."
His parents say watching Owen's fundraising journey has been incredibly rewarding.
"Owen is a thoughtful soul, and it's been so humbling watching him motivated and inspired to want to help 'get more nurses' as he likes to describe it."
"We are so proud of how he wants to support his cricket club in their fundraising efforts and how he involves his teammates in helping him sell the lolly bags. It's given the junior players at the club a way to be involved in community fundraising and an opportunity for them to connect with gratitude to the Pakenham Cricket Club community."
For Owen, knowing where the money goes is what keeps him going.
"It makes me feel proud and happy to know that I can do something small that goes a long way for someone else. I am proud that my 'give' jar is helping others."
“We are so proud of how he wants to support his cricket club in their fundraising efforts and how he involves his teammates in helping him sell the lolly bags”
- Owen's Parents
This year, Owen's fundraising continued to grow. When he ran out of lolly bags before the final Pink Ladies Day, he came up with a Ladies Day Special featuring pink-themed chocolates, including Strawberry Freddos and Turkish Delight.
"It had a pink theme to the chocolates like Strawberry Freddos and Turkish Delights. This was a big hit on the day and something we will continue to do to support the Pakenham Cricket Club's fundraising efforts. I also want to continue to have my Cricket team support the lolly bags and raise more money."
Inspired by Owen's determination to make a difference, McGrath Foundation partner, IGA, has generously provided a $500 Gift Card to help fill his pink lolly bags, ensuring more of the money he raises can go directly towards funding McGrath Cancer Care Nurses.
Helen Kealy, IGA Senior Marketing Manager - Community Partnerships and Sponsorships, said:
"Owen's story is a wonderful reminder of the power of community and the impact one person can have. When we heard about his incredible fundraising efforts, we knew we wanted to help. His commitment to supporting families experiencing cancer at such a young age is remarkable.
IGA is proud to support Owen with his pink lolly bags so he can continue his fundraising journey and bring care and support to people experiencing cancer."
Owen’s message to other young people thinking about fundraising is simple:
"Do the best you can and know every little bit helps someone else."
Whether it's selling pink lolly bags at the local cricket club, hosting a morning tea, taking on a fundraising challenge or making a donation, every act of care makes a meaningful difference.
Together, these acts help fund McGrath Cancer Care Nurses so more people and their families facing cancer receive the care they need.
Because Care For All Takes a Nation.
Known as the “Pink Man of Kilcoy”, Harold has worn pink every day for more than 25 years to honour his late wife and raise awareness of breast cancer. Despite experiencing significant personal loss and his own cancer diagnosis, Harold continues to support his community through fundraising and advocacy, serving as a proud ambassador for Pink Up Kilcoy and the McGrath Foundation.
Kerry Patford is the Chief Nurse at the McGrath Foundation, where she supports, mentors, and collaborates with Nurse Clinical Leads across all Australian states and territories alongside the cohort of McGrath Cancer Care Nurses spread across Australia.
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