Over $20,000 has been raised for Cure Kids at auction by a couple of doodles of an alternative NZ Flag that were considered by most as not very good art.

 

Prime Minister John Keys Flag doodle sold last night on Trade Me for $10,150 to Elite International School of Beauty and Spa Therapies Director, Simon Harding.  Mr Key made it clear before he began drawing that he wasnt an artist but within 24 hours of listing the art work the bidding was up over $3,000.

 

Late last week Breakfast reporter, Matty McLean decided to doodle himself drawing a very odd animal dubbed Shiwi because of the uncertainty as to whether it was a Sheep or a Kiwi.  Shiwi was put up for auction with Matt announcing a tongue-in-cheek challenge suggesting he would raise more money for Cure Kids than the Prime Minister with his doodle.

 

In the dying minutes of Mattys auction at 8am this morning a large bid was placed skyrocketing the total from $350 to $10,500. 

 

A family from the Western Bay of Plenty bought Matts Shiwi and plan to hang it in their home beside a doodle by the late Sir Edmund Hillary.

 

The entire amount raised at auction, $20,650, will go to Cure Kids see information provided by the charity below.

 

Cure Kids and TVNZ would like to thank the thousands of NZers who viewed the auctions, posted good wishes and took part in the bidding.

 

About Cure Kids

At Cure Kids we are trying to find cures for every disease and condition affecting Kiwi kids and to improve their quality of life along the way - whether it be Type 1 Diabetes, cystic fibrosis, kidney disease, pre-term baby survival, leukemia, brain tumours, etc.

Set up 30 years ago, to date we have invested $25 million in New Zealand research and we are very proud of the results funded by New Zealanders generosity, for example:

�        Parents of children with leukemia thank Cure Kids supporters as the survival rate for ALL  leukemia the most common form used to be 20-30% and is now 90-95% as a result of research we funded

�        Many of us are old enough to remember when Cot Deaths took 400 babies a year. That is now down to 40 still 40 too many due to research funded by us

�        While in cystic fibrosis, physical therapy developed by our researchers has thankfully extended the life expectancy from 16 years to 30.

Our research programme is driven by the three professors (or Chairs) we fund our Rock Stars and their teams. One works in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (Cot Death), another in pre-term babies, and the 3rd in genetic diseases. And we are currently capital-raising for a 4th Chair in Wellington in reconstructive plastic surgery.

 

We also fund individual researchers and projects sometimes we can make a real difference for as little as $10,000, sometimes it takes many millions, but one thing for sure is every dollar counts!

 

Please visit www.curekids.org.nz to find out more about us and to make an on-line donation.