Trikki Kidz Barooga staff delivered a hamper full of treats to two-year-old Archie Gash's dad - Christopher - on August 19.
“I found out in early July that I had bowel cancer and I’m halfway through the first round of treatment,” Mr Gash said.“The fundraising has been amazing from Trikki Kidz and the local community in general — it's one of the benefits of being in a small town.“Everyone needs to understand bowel cancer is becoming a lot more common in younger generations.”
Archie’s nan, Tanya Elder, works at Trikki Kidz as a cook and said the kinder always supported local community members in times of hardship.
“Another staff member organised the fundraiser and we all started putting in what we could,” she said.
“We’ve done a couple different fundraisers including one where we framed the children’s handprints, which all the parents bought.
“We have plans to do even more fundraisers including an art show.”
The Barooga team has already raised $729 after selling 115 picture plates, 30 clocks, 22 calendars, 13 drink bottles, nine mugs and one bag.
Cobram's Matt Vaughan-Smith is also battling cancer.
His son Nixon previously attended Trikki Kidz Cobram where Mr Vaughan-Smith's sister Tamika Dyson works as an educator.
She said the Cobram community had shown great support for a number of fundraisers.
“We've had a lot of people come forward with donations and Matt is very overwhelmed,” she said.
“We've started taking photos of the children in the centre and parents can chose what they want to buy and the money will go towards both these families.”
Trikki Kidz Cobram director Jayne Allemand said both centres had done amazing work to raise funds for the two families.
“Both families have attended our centre, so when we heard they were both battling cancer we decided to help as much as we could,” she said.
“We're trying to put together an art show but it's been delayed due to COVID-19.
“We wish we could do more but our families have been great and got on board purchasing the items we've been selling.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Mr Gash at www.gofundme.com/f/christopher-gash and for Mr Vaughan-Smith at https://bit.ly/3qHwjWr
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