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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Great Gatsby for a Great Cause

Last night I held a fundraiser at Tauranga Rialto Cinema with a special screening of The Great Gatsby.  My friend Devan helped organize the event - a big shout out for his help because I wouldn't have been able to do it all on my own.

As I mentioned in a previous post, fundraising is challenging.  It's one thing to organize a party but it's quite another to ask people to reach into their pockets and give money to someone else's cause.

I'm constantly reminded of how fortunate I am to have connections to some very big hearted, generous people in this community (and around the world).  We filled TWO cinemas selling 140 tickets.  People were turning up on the night hoping to get a seat.  It was a packed out party!

We invited the guests to get out their furs and feathers to be in to win a bottle of wine from Steve Bird Wines who generously donated 6 bottles for the occasion to use as prizes.











I was very impressed with the effort people went through.  Obviously, people just love an excuse to dress up!

Will setting up the polo match
People seemed to be having a great time.  Will and Bridget from Classic Hits FM came out to support me.  They've been absolutely brilliant at promoting my cause on the radio.  They introduced me to the crowd before the movie and Will even held a polo match for prizes!

Bridget was so inspired that she tried to get time off work to come to Africa with me!  Sadly it wasn't possible.  :(

We held a raffle for a Well-Being basket full of goodies.  Trilogy Natural Skin Care generously donated $200 worth of products, my company Magic Hands donated $160 worth of services, Flicker Candle Emporium donated $50 worth of products, She'll Be Write donated a Marie Claire cookbook, Relax Kids with Linda donated a relaxation CD for children valued at $30 and I personally donated a bottle of Brut Reserve Special Edition sparkling wine valued at $25.

The lovely Charlie selling raffle tickets
The winner of the raffle was Richard Brawn.  But watch the video and see how I magically pick another name first with my super powers.


I've known Richard for a number of years.  He comes in for massages at Magic Hands and he often brings me wood from the farm for my fire.  In fact, I've got to get more wood from him this weekend so I'll drop the basket off then. 

It was a fabulously successful night.  Tickets sales brought me $1991.00 closer to my goal.  That's pretty awesome considering I planned this event less than two months ago.

I've raised almost $2,000 on my Give-a-Little page.

And last week I was chosen as a finalist for the Wild Sister of the Year 2013 Award.  If I win, I'll be $1,000 closer to my goal.  That would take me to the half way mark.

I require approximately $15,000NZD to cover my costs for the climb, flights, donation to Ovarian Cancer, and personal gear for the expedition.

A local documentary film director has volunteered time to help spread my story.  We need funding to produce a full length documentary.

And I still have a few big items to be auctioned off.  If I can sell these at their value, I will have the full amount.

There's so much to do!  I'd better get cracking.

Less than 4 months to go!  Kilimanjaro here I come!



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