Fanning to tell the tale of flood rescues at Cherry Street Sports Club fundraiser

ONE of the heroes from the flood rescues across the region will be front and centre at a fundraiser dinner at Ballina next Saturday.

Three-time surfing world champion Mick Fanning will be the special guest of the Ball and All podcast at Cherry Street Sports Club.

He was part of flood rescue efforts around Tweed and the image of him driving a pharmacist to work on his jet ski at Murwillumbah is one of the more memorable photographs of the 2022 floods.

Fanning was already scheduled to be part of the podcast last month before it was postponed when the venue at Lennox Head was converted into an evacuation centre.

Moving it to Cherry Street has allowed for more tickets to be sold with the host club already chipping in a $50,000 donation.

"To have him on stage live and be able to have a really good chat with him is something we're looking forward to," event organiser Steve Condon said.

The original fundraiser was to support the Our Kids organisation and other local families who have loved ones dealing with leukaemia and brain cancer.

"We haven't deviated from our original causes and hopefully with the traction we're getting now we'll be able to donate a lot more than we originally budgeted for," Condon said.

They have already raised more than $100,000 in conjunction with Cherry Street Sports Club and the Ballina rotary club as part of the trio's Community Restart Project.

The Ball and All podcast have featured some of the top sports stars, coaches and administrators from across the country.

They operate mainly out of Lennox Head with former Wallaby Berrick Barnes, former junior surfing champion James Wood and Condon leading the three-man team.

Fanning will be joined by renowned surf coach Andy King with major auction items up for grabs on the night.

One of them is a Wallabies Test Match experience which includes the chance to go to the captain's run and be in the team photo ahead of a test match in Australia later this year.

The Melbourne Storm package is just as impressive with accommodation and tickets for two for the game against the Sydney Roosters in Melbourne on August 26.

It also includes an invite to the post game function with coach Craig Bellamy and a Sunday morning breakfast with star players Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes, Harry Grant, Brandon Smith, Cameron Munster and Nick Meaney.

Cash donations can be made on the night while tickets for the event can be found by following the link on the Ball and All Instagram page.

The link can be found at https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-ball-all-live-podcast-we-are-back-tickets-260698104047