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A whalebone carving donated in the memory of loved ones raised thousands of dollars this holiday season.<\/p>\n
John Neville, a carver and musician in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, created the carving and donated it to the Canadian Cancer Society. It was sold at the Festival of\u00a0Trees Gala in St. John\u2019s for $8,100 with the money going to support the Daffodil Place, which offers accommodation for clients and caregivers travelling to the city for cancer treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neville\u2019s personal experience of losing loved ones to cancer influenced his decision to give. His brother died of leukemia over 30 years ago and can still recall the moment he was told about the diagnosis.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me and he said \u2018John, one day,\u2019 he said, \u2018I\u2019m going to tell you I’m not going home, not the way you’d like to see me,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always said that I was going to do something in remembrance of him. And I’m really proud of myself for what I\u2019ve done, you know.\u201d <\/p>\n
Neville said he struggled with alcohol earlier in his life and it was his brother who encouraged him to get sober.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, ‘John,\u00a0 I want you to make me promise,’ he said, ‘I want you to give up drinking,’\u201d Neville said.<\/p>\n
After his brother\u2019s death, Neville threw himself into carving.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe carving is what turned my world around,” he said. “I got no desire to be around alcohol or have anything to do with that. No more.”<\/p>\n
Though this particular carving is whalebone, Neville says he carves from all kinds of materials, from granite to labradorite.<\/p>\n
![\"Carving](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767016208_772_default.jpg\")
Neville’s carving raised $8,100 at the Festival of Trees Gala in St. John\u2019s. (Submitted by Yvonne Jones)<\/p>\n
The whalebone carving donated to the gala isn\u2019t the first time Neville has given away his carvings for a good cause. Neville said he\u2019s also given his carvings for causes like heart disease and cancer in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a wonderful life to know how to carve,” said Neville.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got nothing on your mind. You’re out there for 16 or 17 hours, the dust is flying crazy over your head and you, you don’t care about nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the giving spirit is something he learned from his mother, who created boots for those who needed them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people would come to get them boots, she wouldn’t take one five cents from she’d say, \u2018As long as you keep your feet warm, that\u2019ll do my heart good,\u2019\u201d Neville said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were raised up with a wonderful mother. I tell you, she was an angel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carving for years to come<\/p>\n
Donating carvings to the Canadian Cancer Society is something Neville hopes to continue in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI got my foot in the door there now, so I\u2019ll be doing it for the rest of it,\u201d Neville said.<\/p>\n
He already has plans in the works for what he might carve next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGod bless everybody in the whole world, and anyone that got cancer \u2014 bless them 100 times over.”<\/p>\n
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