Nearly seven years after his sister Connie died at Clare Holland House in Canberra after a long fight against cancer, Samuel Johnson is still raising money for and still keeping the national capital close to his heart.
Samuel conceded it was with "mixed emotions" he was returning to Canberra this weekend, for a party at the Canberra Casino to raise money for Love Your Sister, the charity he and Connie founded to help cure all cancers. (Everyone is invited, by the way.)
Canberra was an intricate part of the Love Your Sister story.
Connie lived in Canberra with her family and it's where Love Your Sister was born.
Only months before she died, Connie teamed up with Samuel at the Lyneham netball courts in May, 2017 for the Big Heart Project, where people donated their spare five cent coins. The event, nationwide, saw more than 50 million five cent coins donated and more than $2.5 million raised for cancer research.
Connie died in Canberra aged 40 on September 8, 2017.
Her loss is always with Samuel but, so too, her insistence that "we vanquish cancer with joy".
"Time doesn't heal all wounds and there is forever a scar, but there has been a passage of time and I'm ready to dance again," he said.
Samuel is hosting a Party with Purpose "snazzy and swish" event at the Canberra Casino, which has generously provided the food for free.
Tickets are $30 and go towards fundraising for Love Your Sister.
The event is part of Play for Purpose, basically a big online raffle in which half the money goes to a charity of choice and the other half on purchased prizes and running the raffle.
The Love Your Sister village has shared in almost $1.5 million in prizes, winning the $250,000 first prize pack four times via the Play For Purpose charity raffle (www.playforpurpose.com.au/love-your-sister).
Samuel say he hopes to meet as many Canberrans as possible on Saturday.
"Canberrans have always been generous supporters of Love Your Sister and that's the reason why we're partying with purpose this weekend," he said.
The party is from 7pm to 9pm on Saturday at the Canberra Casino. Tickets are $30 each. Guests must be 18 years or over.
Tickets are at: www.loveyoursister.org/market/Party-With-Purpose-tickets-p682947376
Samuel, meanwhile, a Gold Logie-winning actor, has had a bit of a career change, now a postie in a small town outside Melbourne.
"I used to love my paper round as a kid so I reckon I've gone full circle," he said.
We have 10 tickets to give away to the Party with Purpose event as a special treat for readers.
Visit www.loveyoursister.org/market to book your Party With Purpose tickets and enter coupon code PARTYWITHCANBERRA at the checkout
