Family rivalry achieves an impressive result

01 Jun 2020

Our 2019 Dry July Fundraising Champions were St Vincent’s Chemotherapy, Nurse Unit Manager, Jessica Watmore-Tanner and her husband Jedd. We are so grateful to them for raising a combined total of over $3400 for patients being treated for cancer.

How did they do it? Good old fashioned rivalry! They used it as a motivator to drive each other to achieve this impressive result.

Jess said it all started out quite innocently. “I signed up and then my husband, who doesn’t work in health, decided he would participate to support me."

Jess and her husband have always been quite competitive. So when a few members for Jess’s team immediately donated money, Jedd decided he needed to get moving.

Once he started to get some donations in, Jess decided she would reach out to her Facebook network. Jedd then cheekily copied and pasted Jess’s post for his Facebook audience.

“We were about level halfway through, but then he kicked things up a notch. Jedd posted on his LinkedIn page and emailed all of his corporate colleagues." This last move saw Jedd beat Jess’s total by $1000.

Jess wasn’t at all phased that Jedd beat her because ultimately it was all in good fun and for a great cause. “It felt so good to do it because I see first-hand how much the funds raised benefit our patients,” Jess said

“People who don’t have an experience with cancer don’t understand how vulnerable people are and how difficult the experience can be.

“I remember sitting with someone who had a tumour in their back. Seeing them confined to an uncomfortable chair for eight hours was really difficult to witness. It’s a stark reminder of what an impact something as simple as a comfortable chair can have. Mind you, our treatment chairs are around $8,000 each, so they’re actually pretty special chairs.

“Thanks to the funds raised last year, we were able to purchase four new treatment chairs. This has made a world of difference to our patients,” Jess said.

Go Dry This July to support patients being treated for Cancer at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne.

Why not get a team together and create some ‘healthy competition’ like Jess and Jedd did?  

Sign up for Dry July

Contact

St Vincent's Foundation
Ground floor
Rear, 55 Victoria Parade
Fitzroy, Victoria 3065