|
SAFE STREET COLLECTORS ARE CHAMPIONS!
Friday - Saturday 21-22 December 2007 - THANK YOU!
APPEAL HEROES AND HIGHLIGHTS!National appeal coordinator Sacha Dowell spent a good part of last year preparing for SAFE's largest nationally coordinated event and fundraiser. She was thrilled to see it went so smoothly and effectively across the country. Sacha reports on some of the notable highlights. • The appeal was an astounding success mobilising over 1100 collectors and raising a nationwide total of $312,000 collected in 4,800 volunteer hours. As the national appeal coordinator I am humbled by the stories and actions of people going out of their way to be part of our important event. Here are some highlights: • Two Wellington collectors got up at 5.30am to hitchhike from Porirua into Wellington City especially to collect! • Tim Barnett, Labour MP, dressed up in a bunny suit and helped collect in the garden city of Christchurch. • Angela Bloomfield and her two children, Suzanne Paul, Nicola Kawana, Lani Purkis and Robyn Malcolm also with her two children, all collected in Auckland. • Our best volunteer collected over $2,100! Our star collector was Marshall Christian from Hamilton. This must be a new record! • Advertising for the appeal was very successful. We had articles and advertisements published in numerous newspapers and magazines including The Star (Dunedin), Greymouth Evening Star, Gisborne Herald, Healthy Options, Te Awa, New Idea, The Press, Dominion Post, Hawkes Bay Today, Bay of Plenty Times and The Northern Advocate. • A Wanganui collector was walking across a carpark after collecting when a man came up with money he had found and said he wanted to give it as a donation! • Despite the Gisborne earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale the night before the appeal, the SAFE collection went ahead anyway! As soon as town opened volunteers were out in force and collected an awesome $2,200! Many thanks to coordinator Karen and the collectors for their efforts. 
We set the goals and you achieve them! Yeah! Congratulations everyone! Sheer determination, goodwill and a tremendous amount of national coordination involving over 1200 collectors and organisers has resulted in yet another record-breaking annual appeal. This year SAFE had collectors in over 110 cities, towns and suburban malls who helped raise a grand total of over $300,000 in donations from the public. These funds ensure SAFE is not only able to maintain its level of work for animals throughout the year but also to increase it. The appeal is SAFE's largest single nationally coordinated event and takes several months of preparation. At the helm of the appeal is National Appeals Coordinator Sacha Dowell who has lead the charge for two years running. Alongside her is a team of awesome people who make the entire fundraising event possible.   Following on the wave of SAFE's highly effective television commercial publicising the plight of intensively farmed pigs SAFE received further great publicity timed around the appeal that helped generate good public support. Long time SAFE supporter and actor Angela Bloomfield was profiled in New Idea magazine, online Tearaway magazine featured two stories, dozens of newspapers published advertisements or stories about SAFE's work and the New Zealand Herald included a large photograph featuring Outrageous Fortune actor Robyn Malcolm and her two children out collecting. Robyn joined Angela Bloomfield and her two children, the ever popular Suzanne Paul, actor Nicole Kawana and bass guitarist Lani Purkis from Elemeno P, who all spent time collecting in Auckland during the busy lunch hour.
It is an outstanding effort by everyone involved and SAFE would like to thank everyone who assisted either by donating towards the appeal or helping to collect. It was a fantastic way to end an already highly successful year.
|
