In the Wheatbelt Shire of Wyalkatchem, 200 kilometres east of Perth, you won't have to search for long to find some very generous locals.
The agricultural town is home to Shearing for Liz, an annual fundraising event which this year raised a record $160,000 for breast cancer research.
The idea behind the event is for a few local sheep shearers to work a full shift, enjoy a cold beer and donate their day's wages.
Longtime shearer Tom Reed and his wife Lucy were dear friends with the late Liz Roberts, who died in 2014 after an eight-year battle with breast cancer.
They set up the event in her honour, and Mr Reed says he never expected it to grow so quickly.
"First one we did in 2014, I think we raised about $2,500 in Liz's memory," he said.
"It quickly progressed from a shear in the shed to a party in the shed."
Eight years later they've raised almost $500,000.
Wyalkatchem Shire president Quentin Davies plays host to the event, which now includes a charity auction, shearing demonstrations and live music.
He believes its impacts go beyond raising money.
"People in regional WA ... struggle with the medical side of things. We've found over the years people use [the pink day] as a chance to open up and have a bit of chat," he said.
"This is far-reaching — we have support from a lot of neighbouring towns and a lot of neighbouring businesses."
"Support has just grown and grown over the last couple of years and I can't see it stopping."
Largest-ever community donation
The Breast Cancer Research Centre of WA is a not-for-profit organisation which conducts clinical trials into the disease and provides treatment to patients.
Interim chief executive Fiona Cocks says this year's Shearing for Liz fundraiser has broken new ground for the organisation.
"The donation from the Shearing for Liz team this year is the largest community-based fundraising effort — city or regional — that we've been the beneficiary of," she said.
"We rely very heavily on donors and the community to do fundraising events for us ... this will go towards the salaries of researchers, breast care nurses, psychologists and educational resources."
This year Mr Davies introduced a new way for businesses to donate — by auctioning off prized rams.
Mr Reed says the move took this year's fundraiser to new heights.
"Quentin's initiative this year was to get Elders and Nutrien Livestock on board which they have wholeheartedly ... they donate rams to be auctioned off and the proceeds went to our cause," he said.
Mr Reed says none of this would have happened without the loss of Liz.
"I hope she'd be pleased about. She inspired us to do it; she was just an incredible person," he said.
"We've had Shearing for Liz out here for eight years in one little community ... to have the pink banners up and have it at the forefront of people's minds about early detection – funding these places is paramount."
