The Winner of the Annah Stretton Raffle

I've said it before, fundraising is hard work.  I've never done anything like this before.  Asking for help isn't easy.  I've always had my own business and made my own money.  I don't get paid holiday time so when I take time off work, it costs me double from lost income and lost time.

I agreed to join the expedition because I loved the concept of Kilimanjaro and knew it would fit very well with my own personal story which I had been working on with a number of media as a way of raising awareness of ovarian cancer in New Zealand. I found people were able to empathize with and loved the metaphor of climbing Kilimanjaro after all the challenges I’ve conquered in my life.

I got 10,000 flyers designed and printed (thanks to my friend and client, graphic artist Trudy Malone and printer Steve Kale), promoting the expedition to distribute around New Zealand.  I was featured in three national magazines - New Zealand Good Health, M2Woman & Verve;  I was on the radio numerous times and was featured in the Hubbard's cereal clipboard newsletter which reached 500,000 homes.  I was discovered by the Ladies Trekking Club based in Estonia and invited to contribute to a book they were publishing about women around the globe who have conquered Kilimanjaro.  Sales of the book will help buy textbooks for children in Tanzania.

I worked tirelessly, staying up into the wee hours writing articles and chasing up emails.  I was also training very hard and I let my business slide.  It was exhausting.  The year flew by!

I would not have been able to get to Africa without the support of my friends and the local business community. Most of the people who donated to help get me to Tanzania were people who know me. My friends in both Canada and New Zealand donated personal money to help towards my expenses and the business community helped with promoting the cause by donating time and kitting me out for the expedition.

I’m very proud of what I achieved in such a short space of time, a little over 9 months.  I feel I achieved my goal - to educate and inspire.  I am still amazed at how few people know about Ovarian Cancer.  There is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

Having said that, I had not raised enough to afford the trip AND pay the donation of $2,900 ($2,500CAD) to the charity I did the climb through so I had one more attempt at raising the money when I returned.

I'm very fortunate to have wonderful contacts.  New Zealand fashion designer Annah Stretton generously donated a prize valued at $2,250 which includes a session at her Tauranga Birds of a Feather Store with her own personal stylist for 6 women to have an entire afternoon of pampering and fashion consultation.  It also includes individual follow up appointments valued at $250 each.  That's a value of $3,750!  

I love Annah's style.  I purchased one of her wrap skirts made from vintage gold fabric and can be worn multiple ways - a value of $360 - to donate to the cause.

I also personally donated a Magic Hands Massage - a value of $100.

Ticket sales didn't go as well as I'd hoped.  I printed off 1000 tickets and sold less than a third of them at 3 for $10.  Still, it brought me a few hundred dollars closer to my target.  Once again I'm amazed at the support and generosity from my community.

The draw was held on Christmas Day.  Click HERE to view the video of the draw on my One Mountain At A Time Facebook page .

Congratulations to the winner - Rebecca Davies!  It gave me the greatest pleasure to contact Rebecca to give her the best Christmas present she's ever received.  I wish every Christmas could feel this nice.