IT IS the only house in a bare part of a Teralba estate – but it still managed to attract a crowd of hundreds and a throng of reporters as it went under the hammer on Sunday.
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The reason: this is no ordinary home. It was built through extraordinary generosity.
The Build for a Cure home – built from scratch through donated land, labour and materials – sold for $662,000 to a Sydney-based investor, with proceeds to go to the Children’s Cancer Institute.
It is the labour of love’s second incarnation, with success in the first Build for a Cure in Penrith two years ago proving that dozens of tradespeople from rival firms could come together for a good cause.
The Teralba home was built in less than two weeks, enlisting 130 tradies for the single-storey construction and fit-out.
The cause attracted many corporate sponsors, including the Newcastle Herald.
Addressing the crowd before the sale, Children’s Cancer Institute deputy director Professor Murray Norris said all proceeds would help fund research for “tailored” treatment for high-risk patients.
While acknowledging child cancer death rates had fallen dramatically, Professor Norris said the disease was still the most common cause of death among Australian children.
“Back when I was a child, if you had cancer it was a death sentence. It is no longer a death sentence – but on average three Australian children will still die from the disease every week,” he said.
“We need to bring that number to zero.”
Present at the auction was toddler Nixon Ball, who has endured 18 months of intense chemotherapy to remove a rare tumour from his scalp.
His mother, Brodie Donegan, said targeted and better treatment for children with cancer was vitally needed.
“Everybody is individual,” she said. “We knew another little baby that had the same tumour as Nixon that didn’t make it … having seen personally kids who didn’t make it, we are committed to helping other kids and getting that research done.”
McDonald Jones Homes founder Bill McDonald said material and labour were donated for the good of the community.
“We’re here to help, and we’ve got to help,” he said.
McCloy Group’s Shane Boslem added that his company was “extremely proud” of its land donation.
Bidder’s representative Joel Soldado said the buyer was “thrilled” and “stoked” with the outcome.
