HUMAN KINDNESS… Parkes businesswoman Rebecca Miller received the Humanitarian of the Year Award for her outstanding fundraising efforts for charities through the Ripple of Kindness Project.
Parkes businesswoman Rebecca Miller has been named Humanitarian of the Year in recognition of her outstanding philanthropic contribution.
The owner of La Bella Medispa received the award at the annual Australian Beauty Industry Awards held in Sydney last month.
Rebecca created The Ripple of Kindness Project in 2018 and has since raised almost $150,000 for various charities.
“This is a very humbling acknowledgement, but the real heroes are the three amazing humans, Margie, Lilly, and Connie, who are the reason why I started The Ripple of Kindness Project, and I would like to dedicate this award to them,” said Rebecca at the awards night.
Rebecca’s first project was raising money and awareness for cancer charities by shaving her head when a close friend Margie Burns was diagnosed with invasive Lobular Carcinoma, an aggressive type of breast cancer. Rebecca raised $25,000 for Parkes CanAssist and Love Your Sister. “I was honestly so blown away by the support,” said Rebecca.
“What really touched me was the response from so many women who have been affected by breast cancer and who shared their stories with me.”
Rebecca’s second project was a 355km run from Parkes to the Westmead Children’s Hospital raising funds for The Bandage Bear Foundation, Carrie’s Beanies for Brain Cancer, The Leukaemia Foundation and CanAssist.
She was inspired by Lilly Wyburn, a Parkes girl who battled leukaemia from the age of two and at only 8.5 years old lost her battle in November 2017. “Lilly touched so many lives in her short time on earth. Throughout the run, I wore a very special necklace that Lilly’s mum, Jodie, gave me. This really helped me to get through this massive challenge”.
After two years of training and planning and COVID-19 delays, Rebecca completed her run on the 18th of April 2021 in nine days, which is just shy of a marathon a day, raising almost $105,000.
In March this year Rebecca saw the struggles her beauty industry community was facing after the challenges of droughts, bushfires, COVID-19 shutdowns and flooding. Rebecca raised almost $9,000 to support salon owners impacted by the floods to help rebuild their salons so they could continue to support themselves, their families, and their team’s families.
“When you give back to other people and your community, it reminds you what you’re made for. Focusing on the needs of others has a way of motivating you to do more than you thought possible. You feel the benefits immediately. You become more productive. You find creative solutions to problems. You find strength when you’re exhausted. That’s because life supports that which improves the quality of life. When we contribute to our community, we become part of something that is bigger than ourselves,” said Rebecca.
The Australian Beauty Industry Awards were launched in 2011 nationally and are judged by an independent panel of judges, media, PR and business specialists.