Northern Health Foundation Patron and local fundraising hero, Josie Minniti OAM, has been named a Westfield Local Hero for 2020.

‘Westfield Local Heroes’ is a recognition and awards program that discovers and celebrates individuals who make a positive impact to their local community. Local Heroes are nominated and voted for by their communities, with winners awarded a $10,000 grant for their chosen charity.

We are thrilled that Josie Minniti has nominated Northern Health as her chosen organisation, contributing the grant towards the purchase of an EBUS machine for our respiratory department. This will help speed up the time for a respiratory diagnosis, so treatment can start sooner for our patients.

Josie is an inspiring volunteer who has dedicated over 20 years to fundraising for cancer services and strives to make a difference to the lives of patients, something very dear to her heart with her own family dealing with cancer.

On winning the award, Josie said, “This is an amazing achievement, not just for me, but for the Northern Health respiratory department and their patients. The EBUS machine will help detect lung cancer earlier for patients in our community.”

“I’m very grateful to Westfield and every person who voted for me because I know many people did, so I’m truly appreciative. Thank you to Northern Health Foundation for their amazing support, the dedicated staff at Northern Health, my fundraising group and everyone in the community – it’s not just about me, it’s about everyone – and I encourage our community to continue to support and donate to Northern Health.”

Through her tireless fundraising efforts, Josie has helped raise over $700,000 to support patients with cancer and kidney disease at Northern Health.

Funds raised have contributed to medical equipment upgrades and the purchase of equipment to make patients more comfortable while undergoing treatments. This has included a scalp cooling machine to help patients retain hair during chemotherapy treatment, a blanket warmer machine, patient treatment chairs and defibrillators.

“Whenever I am fundraising, my motto is ‘there is always someone worse off than you’, so I will do all I can to improve their lives,” says Josie, who has received an Order of Australia (OAM) for her dedication.

For anyone wishing to donate to Northern Health Foundation and support patients in our community, head to nhfoundation.org.au.