Bendigo resident Stephanie Clarke was only three years old when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
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"It was really confronting that day," Stephanie's father Danny said. "You're told your child has a brain tumour and you're looking for the quick, easy, safe answer.
"One of them is we do nothing. But we were told if we don't do anything, she will die."
Stephanie was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital where she had surgery to remove the cancer. She then went through weeks of radiation at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
"We did our own travel from Bendigo to Melbourne but we weren't just left behind," Mr Clarke said.
"The social workers came in, the nurses came in and we went to the clinic and saw the doctors. Everybody was always making sure that we were ok.
"We can't fault the service that we received from the Royal Children's Hospital."
Read more: City shines in Good Friday Appeal
Stephanie, now 21, has made it her mission to help those who helped her. For the past 14 years, she has been raising money for the Royal Children's Hospital as part of the Good Friday Appeal.
It started when she was in Grade 3. She began collecting loose change in a metal tin as part of a primary school social studies project.
"I just started with asking my dad for coins," she said. "He started with giving me five cent pieces and I've been filling tins ever since.
"My mum, dad and uncles have been donating a lot of coins. Mum gets a few from work and dad gets a few from work as well. Any spare change just goes in my tin."
In the past 14 years, Stephanie has raised more than $5000 for the Royal Children's Hospital. The 21-year-old is now in good health and is only required to go in for a yearly check up, but she continues to raise money.
This Good Friday, her and her parents will be continuing their new tradition of tin rattling for the appeal on View Street.
"That's how we do our bit for her," Stephanie's mum Rosalyn said.
Since the Good Friday Appeal started in 1931, more than $345 million has been raised to support research, equipment, education, training and patient centred care programs at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
Bendigo has played a key part in the appeal for the past five decades. Uncle Bobs, an organisation that works solely for the medical needs of sick children, acts as the agent of the donation drive in Bendigo.
The group began operating in Bendigo 47 years ago and has raised more than $1 million for the Royal Children's Hospital.
"You don't even have to go far to find someone who has been helped by the hospital," Uncle Bobs marketing coordinator Bec Pryor said.
"We'll be raising money for the appeal and people will say my grandchild or my next-door neighbour or even I was helped when I was a little child."
Ms Pryor was in a car accident when she was 16 years old and received treatment at the Royal Children's Hospital.
"I broke my neck so I was airlifted from Bendigo to Melbourne," she said. "I was there for quite some time and the support they gave me and my family was just amazing.
"So that's part of my driving force for doing the Good Friday Appeal and working with Uncle Bobs. I wanted to give my time so others could experience the benefits of the hospital."
Uncle Bobs Bendigo Branch president Carol Maher is one of five generations who have been contributing time and money to the Royal Children's Hospital.
Her grandfather was one of the people who started the Good Friday Appeal.
"I do it for the past and present members," Ms Maher said. "I do it because you meet so many beautiful people and that's what drives me."
"It's meeting people like Bec who have been touched by the Royal Children's and hearing their stories that makes it worthwhile."
The Uncle Bobs Bendigo Branch are looking for people to help tin rattle this Good Friday.
"Our meeting place is the Bendigo Bowls Club in Barnard Street," Ms Pryor said. "So people can come and volunteer from 8am and we run to about 3pm.
"People can come in and register or they can register online through the Uncle Bobs website or our Facebook page."
The group were able to double their volunteer numbers for the appeal last year, from 70 people in 2017 to more than 140 people in 2018.
The usual contributors include the local fire brigades, Freemasons, and the local Lions Clubs. But Ms Pryor said they were always looking for new volunteers.
"People can volunteer for as long as they want," Ms Pryor said. "Some people do the whole day and others do as short as a few hours.
"We accept anyone and we love to see old faces and also some new faces to join the team."
Ms Pryor said the Good Friday Appeal brought out the best in the community.
"Years ago I would ring up and make my donation on the Good Friday Appeal telecast," Ms Pryor said. "That high of doing something and paying it forward would only last a little while.
"But when you go and give that time and you're surrounded by like-minded people who are just solely driven to make a difference and raise as much money as possible, the high from that lasts so much longer.
"The people you meet and the friendships you make from that day is really, really great."
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