Roses Blossom on Valentine’s Day

By Danielle Galvin
A PAKENHAM teen will be selling roses and heart-shaped lollies on Valentine’s Day to raise money for the foundation that she’s set up.
Sixteen-year-old Sheena Mabilangan, who grew up in Bangkok, started the Blossom Foundation this year to support a friend of the family living with cancer.
“I’m selling roses and lollies on Valentine’s Day, and I’ll be dispatching them to the various classrooms,” she said.
Sheena’s friend Michaela Shoebotham lives in South Africa with her young family.
In 2010, she was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkins lymphoma.
“My sister went to primary school with Michaela in Bangkok. My sister works full time, so she doesn’t have time to raise money like I do,” she said.
The Year 11 vice-captain said her friends at Lakeside Lutheran College had been a big help in getting the foundation set up and promoting Michaela’s cause.
She’s hoping to raise enough to make sure Michaela wins the fight against lymphoma.
“Michaela is only 26 and the biopsies and overnight hospital stays cost a lot,” she said.
On her blog, Michaela thanked her friends back in Australia for their fundraising efforts.
“We had some incredibly generous donations come in over the last few days and people continue to let us know their fundraising plans,” Michaela wrote.
“We continue to be blown away and are struggling to keep up with thanking everyone.”
Sheena is hoping to raise money and awareness for the cause and says she felt like she needed to “do something about it.”
“My sister has done so much for me, this is my way of helping out a friend.”