That time I helped raise some cash for charity

What a gratifying experience it is to be deeply involved in a charity event. To be a part of something that is so much bigger than me and you. Have a seat while I reminisce a while.

My only previous involvement with charity work was donations every now and again, sometimes attending charity events, and a one-time raising of funds when my wife shaved her hair to raise awareness for child cancer.

In February 2017 I was part of a team that ran a 100km Charity Relay event raising awareness for 4 different charities in the Wellington region. Each team had to raise their own funds as an ‘entry fee’ and all funds were split equally between each of the charities.

As a member of one of the participating teams, I was directly involved in trying to figure out how the hell we were going to raise money. We didn’t have a lot of time either. We received a late invitation to the event, which left only a month and a half to raise thousands of $$ during January and February. Not the best time of year, especially after Christmas and New Year.

Yet, we did it! Not only did we raise the ‘entry fee’, but we raised the 2nd highest amount out of all the teams!

But, I digress…

It’s one thing when we open our wallets and give a donation, it’s a totally different experience when we’re the ones trying to get other people to do it. Rather than my single $5, $10, or $20 donation, I had a direct influence is raising at least 10 times that amount.

What a feeling it is to be able to help others in this way! I have to be honest, it’s a crazy-good feeling.

I’m still coming to grips with how, as a team, we managed to raise so much money for these awesome charities (over $8000 and counting). I’m also so grateful to the people who graciously donated their hard-earned money to the cause we were supporting.

This is definitely something I want to do again. And with this little experience and more time, who knows what we could achieve next time round…