By Ashleigh Fielding | posted on July 13, 2018
FIVE-year-old Albany boy Jackson Brown is a little boy with a big heart.
Jackson has made it his mission to turn $30 into $35,000 to help his sick pre-primary friend who was diagnosed with an aggressive, rare form of blood cancer in March this year.
Jackson’s mum Nikki Notman told The Weekender that upon hearing his little friend Izzy had been diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, young Jackson decided he needed to do something about it.
“He turned around one afternoon and said, ‘Mum, what can we do to help Izzy?’,” Ms Notman explained .
“I said, ‘money, kiddo, money helps’.
“So, he decided he was going to shave his head; he needed a haircut anyway!”
Ms Notman said despite a slight battle holding Jackson down at the hairdressers, the five-year-old walked out the salon door with a shiny top.
“We went to Best and Less because he wanted a beanie, and the lady there said he had an interesting haircut for winter,” Ms Notman said.
“Jackson told her he was raising money for his sick friend and she gave him $10.
“He then got $10 from the Mean Fiddler and $10 from his guitar teacher so he had $30 and he said, ‘Here’s some money, Mum’.”
After a bit of thought and a discussion with Izzy’s parents, Ms Notman decided she and her son would try to raise even more money than Jackson’s head shaving episode by placing donation tins around town at local businesses.
Dominos, Jo-Joe’s Pizza, Wilson’s Brewing Company, Six Degrees, Alkaline Café, Snap Fitness, Denmark Tavern, Earl of Spencer, Great Southern Supplements and Gourmandise and Co are currently aiding the fundraising effort.
The collaborative aim is $35,000.
“The Dominos owners’ daughter is in Izzy’s class, so they are helping out,” Ms Notman said.
“Libero from Jo-Joe’s is going up this weekend to meet Izzy, Six Degrees is hosting a ticketed event in October with a silent auction and all proceeds from that will go to Izzy, and Wilson’s is donating $1 from every beer sold during the school holidays to Izzy.
“It just shows how awesome the Albany community is.
“We’ve only been in Albany for two years, and for us to be able to drum up so much support for a little guy who wants to help his mate…it’s astronomical.”
Ms Notman said the latest update on Izzy’s progress is that she received her fourth and final round of chemotherapy in Perth last week and is now awaiting a PET scan, which is due in the next couple of weeks.
